Kikuki Maki

Kikuo Maki is a Japanese fashion designer and the founder of Garde Collective. Her work has often been described as a mixture been haute couture and the street styles that arose in Japan in the 1990s. Much of her work is generally considered to be a mixture of opposites creating a great deal of contrast in almost every piece.

History

Kikuo Maki attended the Nagoya Mode Academy before graduating and starting work as a freelance designer. In 1993, she created Garde Collective and then started designing on her own. She did not participate in the Tokyo Collections until the Spring/Summer collection of 2000, but has attended every year since then. In 2004, she helped launched a second line in Dw2R with her collaborator Senso Unico. She also participated in the Creation Business Forum in 2005.

Concepts and Ethics

Maki has long stated that she does not believe clothing should cost hundreds of thousands of yen and wants to produce clothing that young Japanese women and teenagers can afford without walking around in overly expensive brands. She designs for working women, but also for those that want something that looks professional and energetic and has the same level of craftsmanship as a couture brand.

Clothing Style

For most of her clothing, Maki creates a mixture of the new street inspired fashions that have been popular in Japan’s Harajuku district since the 1990s with the various different types of designs that have made the fashion industry what it is. She does not work with other designers for any of her original designs and is proud of her handmade products, though recognizes the downturn in the economy that makes her work hard to maintain. Many of her clothing lines take on themes such as hope or love to reflect the current economic downturn and social attitudes of Japanese culture in the current decade.

Where to Buy

The Garde Collective clothing can be purchased through its numerous boutiques in Tokyo or through high end department stores such as Parco and Shibuya 109.

External Links

• Official Website (English)