Nakazato Live House

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Nakazato began making clothes as a self-taught designer from his high school days before graduating from the Antwerp Royal Academy with a degree in fashion design in 2008, becoming the youngest Japanese graduate from the program. His instructors included Linda Loppa, Dries van Noten and Walter Van Beirendonck. His graduation piece won an Innovation Award from Ann Demeulemeester for incorporating origami ideas, where the dress changes into a three-dimensional sculptural piece when opened. Shoes he designed as a student are preserved in ModeMuseum Antwerpen. In 2009, he launched his eponymous label after becoming the only finalist in ITS history to be selected for two different competitions in different editions. That year, he presented his first collection at a showroom in Antwerp together with other graduates including Demna Gvasalia.

In Their Own Story

In 2016, Nakazato was invited by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode to present his collection at Haute Couture Week in Paris, making him the second official guest member from Japan, following 12 years after Hanae Mori's inclusion. The brand has since continued to present couture collections biannually as part of Haute Couture Week in Paris as of 2023. In 2018, 21_21 Design Sight, a museum in Tokyo founded by Issey Miyake, mounted Nakazato's first exhibition 'HARMONIZE' devoted to reintroducing his couture works to Japanese audiences and was visited by Issey Miyake. In 2024, Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode presented the brand's first monographic exhibition, also making it the first exhibition for the museum to feature a Japanese fashion brand. Nakazato is the fourth Japanese fashion designer to have a retrospective held at a public art museum in France, following Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Hanae Mori, being the youngest among them.

Reader's Guide

Nakazato's couture collections have been presented at venues including Palais de Tokyo, Maison des métallos, House of Culture of Japan in Paris, Eléphant Paname, Hôtel National des Arts et Métiers, École de Médecine Paris Descartes, Théâtre National de Chaillot, Oratoire du Louvre, Osanbashi Hall in Yokohama, The 55 Haussmann, and The American Cathedral in Paris. Since 2022, Nakazato has collaborated with choreographers and theatre directors to design costumes for opera and ballet productions in both the US and Europe. In 2022, he designed costumes for Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's artistic directorial debut at Geneva Grand Theatre, followed by a second collaboration for Hanjo, an opera produced by Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In 2023, he designed costumes for Boston Ballet's new production La Mer, created by Dutch choreographer Nanine Linning. In 2024, he designed costumes for Geneva Grand Theatre's new production Idomeneo directed by Cherkaoui, making it his first costume design for a full opera production.

Did You Know?

• Nakazato designed a costume for Fergie which she wore while performing in a world tour with the Black Eyed Peas in 2010.
• In 2021, Nakazato collaborated with Japan's Ministry of the Environment to introduce an educational program on social responsibility and environmental issues in fashion design, with a jury including Kazuyo Sejima and Ai Tominaga.
• In 2020, MoMu praised the 'Face to Face' project, a charity project presented as an alternative to a regular couture collection during the pandemic, and purchased its custom-made look as a permanent collection.
• Nakazato develops techniques using 3-D printing, creating textile fibres using fermented bacteria, and implementing novel techniques alongside specialists, researchers and industrialists.
• In 2018, KCI (Kyoto Costume Institution) acquired one of the looks from his first couture collection 'Unknown' as the museum's permanent collection.