Nobu Kitamura

Nobu Kitamura (北村信彦) is a Japanese fashion designer and founder of iconic Japanese fashion label Hysteric Glamour.

History

Kitamura was born in Tokyo in 1962.
While in high school in Tokyo he got into the late 70's New York punk and New Wave sound.
In 1981 he saw an ad for a fashion school and decided that was his future.
In 1982, while at fashion college he began working part time at the Japanese fashion brand Ozone.
He graduated from Tokyo Mode Gakuen with a degree in fashion design in 1984.
The same year, 1984, Ozone asked him to create his own unisex fashion brand. He personally picked the name Hysteric Glamour for his brand and it was launched that year.
Eventually, Hysteric Glamour clothing were featured in Olive Magazine, and more Japanese people started to notice the brand. Hysteric Glamour became increasing popular with girls in the Harajuku and that popularity spread throughout Tokyo.

In 1986 Kitamura went to New York to try to find and meet his idol Andy Warhol. He was unable to locate Andy on the trip and the pair never met before Warhol's death. However, recently Hysteric Glamour began collaborating with the Andy Warhol Foundation on a line of clothing featuring Warhol's art.

In the late 80's Hysteric Glamour had a shop in New York City for two years and many Western artists and musicians took to the brand. Some of these bands, like Sonic Youth and Primal Scream would become friends with Kitamura and eventually begin collaborations with his label.

Nobu Kitamura is friends with director Sofia Coppola. Some of the scenes in her 2003 film Lost in Translation are based on her experiences partying in Tokyo with Kitamura. The designer also has a brief cameo in the film.

In 2006, Kitamura opened the Rat Hole Gallery in the Aoyama area of Tokyo (near the Aoyama Hysteric Glamour shop) to show works by artists he likes, including art stars Nobuyoshi Araki and Daido Moriyama.