Atlas of Fashion Designers

347

Kanya Miki

Kanya Miki

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In his student days at the Royal Academy in Antwerp, Kanya Miki was already demonstrat-

ing his immense talent. It’s no surprise, then, that designer Walter Van Beirendonck, a pro-

fessor in—and now director of—the Fashion Department at the Royal Academy, choose

him in 2003 to be his design assistant, a post which, one year later, Kanya took up with

British designer John Galliano. In 2005, he decided to found his own label, Kosmetique

Label, and present his fi rst collection in Paris.

Having been born in Japan and having studied in Paris, grants Kanya a very personal vision

of fashion, one characterized by the unifi cation of the best each culture has to off er. On

the one hand, there is the originality and ease for capturing the latest trends and knowing

what the street wants—so much a part of Japanese youth culture—while, on the other

hand, there is the indisputable value of French fashion, with its ideas about tailoring and

durability. What appears to be a dichotomy of principles however, is masterfully overcome

in the hands of this gifted young designer.

Moreover, Kanya has accomplished something quite rare: making garments with their own

identity, with a trade name, creating a personal cut very much in line with current aesthet-

ics, an idea of beauty that borders on the androgynous, on the frontier between the sexes,

granting his creations a decidedly ambiguous character. Indeed, one of his goals is to create

a completely unisex line, thereby transcending the limits that clothes have always drawn

between the sexes. And there is little doubt that he will pull it off .

Photography by Shun Okubo

348

Kanya Miki

Sketches courtesy of Kanya Miki

Both these sketches and this design from

the Fall/Winter 2008–2009 collection

refl ect the sobriety characteristic of

both Japanese Comme des Garçons and

Yamamoto, references which Kanya

Miki successfully sifts through in the

formation of his own identity.

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Kanya Miki

Photography by Aiko Kodama

350

Kanya Miki

- What inspires you?

People or things around me, whatever is happening in reality.

- What is your dream as a designer?

To pursue the creation of both imaginative creativity and reality.

- What has been the most important achievement of your career?

Not yet.

- How important are trends?

A trend is always a refl ection from our real life, like a social movement, the economy, the world situation, and so on. It

is important for designers to see how the world is moving now.

- Fashion has always refl ected a certain era. What does fashion refl ect in the twenty-fi rst century?

In the twenty-fi rst century, identity will be more important, so style will be more diversifi ed and complicated.  e new

sense of luxury must be necessary. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be more precious for each individual.

Kanya Miki

16-18, rue Berger

75001 Paris

France

www.kosmetiquelabel.com

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Kanya Miki

Sketches courtesy of Kanya Miki