AKIRA ISOGAWA - The Designer. The Man.

"As a Designer, I want to make things that are emotionally or spiritually connected to people"

AKIRA ISOGAWA

Who would have thought?

A young boy from Kyoto, Japan, began his fashion career by playing dress-ups using his mother's tea towels as he tracked behind her while she was doing the housework! That's how the very private and unassuming, Akira Isogawa began his career.

"When she went into the kitchen I used to pull out our oblong Japanese tea towels and play with wearing them in different ways," he says. "These are my earliest memories of draping and manipulating fabric."

Twenty-five years later,  the Australia-based designer is a household name.  He has managed to translate those childhood origami-like foldings into a global business that fuses Japan's culture and craftsmanship with a contemporary Australian awareness. Since launching his brand in Sydney, his signature East-West designs have captured attention on the runways of Milan, New York, Paris and London, and in major cultural exhibitions.

It is well-known in the industry, that for his first fashion show in Sydney, Isogawa couldn't afford shoes for his models, so they wore red socks! Now his brand is stocked in the Middle East, Europe, America and Asia. He's even been on an Australian postage stamp!

Yet despite his success in a notoriously fickle industry, Isogawa remains remarkably modest in his aspirations. He just wants to make emotionally and spiritually connected clothes for his customers to treasure for years.

And we're happy with that.

We hope you enjoy a taste of Akira Isogawa at Tiffany Treloar; Flinders Lane and online only.