Born and raised in Tokyo, Kozaburo Akasaka gained professional experiences with prestigious designers in New York such as Thom Browne. Following his LVMH nomination in 2017, KOZABURO is now a leading fixture at New York Fashion Week. We caught up with the designer following his show to further explore the collection.

If we saw your moodboard for SS24, what would we find?

Landscape Photos, Cave Digger Ra Paulette, and Moebius.

You created a fictional world, what was your inspiration?

Spirit.

Do you listen to music in your atelier? What were you listen to while working on Land of Setting Sun?

A playlist was actually made for this collection. Pure Morning by Placebo, Easy On me by Adele, Days like z’s by Low, Legendary Curse by Lou Reed.

What role does sustainability play in your work?

The origin of my brand and how I grew up is “no waste is better”. It also falls in line with the spiritual essence of the brand, everything is circular. In general I feel as if sustainability is viewed as a trend and we do not deny this positive impact. What we focus on is the bigger impact of etiquette, spirituality and morality. There is meaning in trying though we are still small, educating the industry is meaningful for our brand.

You grew up in Japan in the 90s. Gen Z has a love affair with this era. Do you have a favorite decade?

1969, this is a time I dream about. The 90’s was a twisted time, all times were twisted times but the 90’s was a precursor to how things are now.

Finally,  if you could be any mythical creature, what would you be and why?

The Coyote, in Native American Mythology, is considered a bridge between the spiritual realm and our realm.

 

Take a look below at KOZABURO‘s Spring/Summer 2024 backstage shot by Jack Buster during New York Fashion Week, in exclusive for Fucking Young!