Yasuko Furuta of Japanese fashion label Toga just presented the brand’s fall/winter 2022 collection to great acclaim at London and Tokyo Fashion Weeks. This year, she celebrates her 25th anniversary as a designer. Here, she tells Tatler about her inspirations and reflects on her journey
Yasuko Furuta just wrapped up a victorious in-person show at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo (March 14–19), where her fashion label Toga presented its fall/winter 2022 collection.
The show in Tokyo came hot on the heels of a digital presentation of the same collection at London Fashion Week in February, and was warmly received by its home crowd.
Toga’s signature east-meets-west aesthetic stood front and centre, as did its use of embellishments and a mix of fabrics. The brand is known for its hybrid aesthetic and use of a variety of materials in its pieces—and the silks, sequins, feathers and faux fur in the collection wowed critics. The cutting of the pieces, while always refined, also offer a playful feel on textures and silhouettes.
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This was, of course, not the Japanese designer’s first rodeo: she just celebrated her 25th anniversary as a designer. Toga was founded in 1997 and has a well-established presence in the Japanese fashion scene. It is most notably one of the few modern Japanese fashion labels that steers away from streetwear.
Furuta was born in the southcentral Japanese prefecture of Gifu and studied in Tokyo and Paris. She made her Paris Fashion Week debut in 2005. She is also a recipient of the 2003 Mainichi Design Prize and 2007 Andam Award. The former is one of Japan’s most prestigious annual design awards, while the latter is co-awarded by the French Ministry of Culture and considered the gold standard for young design professionals making headway in their industries.
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