Junko Koshino

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Junko Koshino is a Japanese fashion designer, best known for her wide array of different designs, including her Junko Koshino line and her wide array of uniform designs for various large Japanese companies.

History

Junko was born in Osaka in 1939 and studied fashion design at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo until 1961 when she graduated. She soon afterward started designing and opened her first boutique in Tokyo in 1966. Her first ready wear collection was shown in Paris in 1978 and she launched her men’s collection two years later in 1980. She later went on to open boutiques in China in 1985, Paris in 1989, New York in 1992, and Singapore in 1993. She has worked in design of costumes for operas, uniforms for sports teams and corporations, and has even shown her clothing in Cuba. Her sisters, Michiko and Hiroko are also fashion designers and the three held joint shows in the 1990s. She has won the Soen Prize and the Fashion Editors Club Prize for her work.

Clothing Style

For many years, Junko Koshino’s work was defined by the futuristic, modern looks she gave to many corporate and exposition uniforms and the grandiose detail she instilled in her opera clothing – both of which showed strongly in her own collections. She builds a strong relationship in all of her clothing between the individual and the group, not just working on uniforms and personal clothing, but comingling the ideas she develops for each between her various lines and designs.

Unlike many of the fellow designers of her generation, Koshino did not go abroad to learn the finer arts of design – instead she immediately started designing her own clothing and developing her style in Japan. While her group clothing is never utopian, counteracting and giving voice to the fear of mass conformity, her individual clothing is often a symbol of balance and harmony, seeking out that utopian image while creating very individualistic pieces.

Where to Buy

Junko Koshino’s work is available in any of a number of boutiques operated in Tokyo, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore. Her work can also be found in numerous department stores including Seibu, for which she once designed uniforms.