Designer Maiko Kurogouchi is so discreet, she could pass for fashion’s best-kept secret. She rarely appears at the end of her shows, choosing instead to retreat backstage and let the clothes speak for themselves. Her collections, however, are anything but shy, and deserve attention. The pieces she designs complement rather than dominate the wearer, but still stand out for their individuality, and for their lightness and poetry.
Kurogouchi often develops her own fabrics, drawing on the iconography and artisanal traditions of her native Japan. Cultural references and personal memories are woven into designs that are understated yet artistic. This approach gives her work a distinct character—modern in its clean silhouettes, subtly textural, and grounded in a strong sense of heritage.
For this collection—staged, as always, at Ogata restaurant, a landmark of Japanese haute cuisine where guests are welcomed with tea and delicacies—she drew on memories of her rural hometown and childhood days spent at her grandmother’s house. Images surfaced: water slipping beneath a thin sheet of ice as spring approached, icicles melting, the blurred view through frosted glass with clouds of mist beyond, the softened light filtering through a half-closed window. These impressions intertwined with her fascination for the history of Wa Glass, a Japanese technique dating back to the 17th century. She tried to capture the elusive quality of memories and the fragility of glass into gently expressive, translucent fabrics. The palette unfolded in pale aqua, dusty violet, and milky white, worked into elongated, lean silhouettes that played with delicate layering, balanced by softly structured tailoring. Kurogouchi explained that she wanted to honor the elegance of her grandparents’ era, “their dignity of well-worn garments and the nostalgia for times gone by”—a sentiment that infused the collection with intimacy and grace.
