With her f lawless skin, beautiful dark hair and incredible Azzedine Alaïa gladiator gold platforms I try not to stare at, Tsumori Chisato’s presence is more than strong. It is not that shetries to be the centre of the room, wants to provoke people or behaves in a way that begs for attention, but she has this je ne sais quoi that makes women envious and men want to know more. Tsumori is a woman who is comfortable with herself, her style, her age, her personality and that really shines through. Despite being feted as a fashion superstar in her homeland, she is a self-confessed workaholic who remains humble and firmly grounded. After all, she started designing solo in 1990 and does not have much to prove, even though new projects are blossoming, such as the launch of a new menswear line this year and the opening of a New York flagship store.
Endlessly working with fabrics, textures and colour combinations, Tsumori has created her own niche, designing clothes that are cosmopolitan, travel well and adapt to very different cultures. She is an international woman, despite working and living in Japan. She travels to Europe often and is sensitive to changes taking place around her. I am curious to see how she defines her place within the Japanese fashion scene: after all, she is not somber, conceptual or deeply intellectual. Chisato’s clothes are sensual and the one thing you really want to do when you first see them is to touch them. Tsumori dreamt of being a cartoonist as a kid and her love of colour, drawing and illustration keeps popping up in her clothes. Her prints are unique and seem to refer to painting, as well as other art forms. There is a musical quality to what she does: her collections seem to have a melody of their own, inviting us to sample new sounds and drumming to their own beat. More than a designer, Chisato can be perceived as a storyteller whose vision remains upbeat and optimistic. A sense of fun and happiness is recurrent in all her work, a celebration of life, joy and individuality. Tsumori’s style is vibrant, quirky, confident, but also easy to wear, respecting a woman’s body and giving her the comfort she craves. I like the fact that her clothes are distinctive, without being instantly recognizable. Actually, I quickly forget about Tsumori’s dress after she starts talking.
Your clothes are very individual and unique in their own way. How would you define your style? It is kind of hard to define, as I feel that it’s really me and stays consistent. I also wear most of the things that I design, so for me there hasn’t been a huge change in terms of taste and direction. Recently, I have been watching some of my early shows and was struck by how my aesthetics were still the same. When I started out, I was working with very simple, basic fabrics like cotton, but now my pieces are more luxurious and elaborate. I guess I am having a bit more fun with my work now. I love chiffon and silk, bright patterns and upbeat colours. The things I did at the beginning were a lot sportier, even though sophisticated dressing should never imply a lack of comfort.
Can you tell me about how you started in fashion? How did it happen? Well, I graduated from the Bunka fashion school in the 1970s in Tokyo. The school had a great reputation and other famous designers had previously graduated from there, such as Kenzo and Yohji Yamamoto. It was a very creative and exciting period in Japan and it was good to be a part of it.
Did you start designing under your own name straight away? No, I freelanced one year for another company and decided to quit before I joined the Issey Miyake group in 1977. That changed a lot of things. At the beginning, I was Issey’s sportswear designer and did it for quite a long time, learning from him and growing my own design skills. Then I had the opportunity to start something under my own name and I have to say that I was quite nervous at the beginning. Now, it is no longer the same feeling (laughter). I do not think that the way I work has changed that much either. I am still attracted by the same things.
Do you still get insecure before a show? Yes, I sometimes do. I cannot say that I feel paralysed or that I am plagued with fear, but there is always an element of doubt there. I think it’s normal for designers to feel this way. I have been designing for a while now, but I still want to try out new things and hope people will relate to them. And I really hope that the clothes will sell, too! (mutual laughter).
You have been showing in Paris for a few years now. What pushed you to make that move? Well, I felt like I needed an international platform to show my work and Paris was perfect for that. There are so many nationalities represented here now. It is still the epicentre of the fashion world and I find the city so inspiring, too.
As a Japanese woman and designer, what did you first think of Paris when you came here? I love Paris. I come here often and never get bored of it. It is an incredibly romantic place and has stayed worlds apart from the Tokyo mentality, which is more about business and speed. In terms of aesthetics, history, art and heritage, Paris is a fascinating city and completely different from what I was used to in Japan. French style is more decorative than Japanese style, even though we have decorative elements, too. I guess that there are many layers to French culture and a richness that appeals to me, too.
You come to Paris several times a year for work. Do you ever manage to get some time off? I try to! I love going to the Clignancourt flea market and look at clothes and furniture there, it always inspires me, even though I do not feel that my collections refer any artists or movements in particular. For me, it is more about combining and mixing several elements, until they become my own. It was interesting when I first came to France, because I had to adapt to a new clientele and rethink my style: necklines had to be lower and hemlines were shorter. I think it had an effect on my creativity and made the clothes sexier.
Do you get to travel a lot with your work? How does it affect your creativity and perception of fashion? Well, I do get to travel, even though I spend a lot of time working in Tokyo. The Japanese certainly do not have as many holidays as the French! (mutual laughter) The thing is, the more I travel, the more I become aware of the connecting elements uniting cultures. I hope that my clothes reflect this fact. This sense of cultural connection has an impact on fashion. I love seeing the way a French woman will wear one of my dresses, for instance. It will be completely different from seeing someone else in Milan or London wearing it.
Do you think that this sense of global connection has become stronger over the past decade? Yes, it really has. I can understand Paris well now and can also relate to other cities I visit. For me, culture is connecting to other people and finding what we have in common. Ever since I studied Art History at university, I have been aware of that interconnectedness and how everything seems to move from one place to another.