Japanese Couture Designer Tomo Koizumi Makes His Own Rules

The story of Tomo Koizumi reads like a fashion fairy tale. Toiling away creating stage costumes, unknown outside of his native Tokyo; one day, he was discovered by super-stylist Katie Grand through Instagram. In this story, Grand is the fairy godmother—she whisked him away to New York and enlisted her A-lister friends to help Koizumi put on his first Fashion Week show. It was staged in Marc Jacobs’ Madison Avenue store, and where the likes of Gwendoline Christie, Joan Smalls and Emily Ratajkowski walked.

That was in 2019 and since then, Koizumi’s star has only been on the rise. He has dressed Bjork, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Sam Smith and Lil Nas X in his extravagantly ruffled and exuberantly coloured gowns. His work has been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and shown as part of its Costume Institute’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion” exhibition. There have been collaborations with Sacai and Emilio Pucci, and he has caught the eye of Dolce&Gabbana, who supported his fall/winter 2023 show with logistical and creative resources.

Related article: Thrills And Frills At Tomo Koizumi’s First Show In Singapore

The most notable thing about Koizumi’s ascent is that he is doing things his own way. In a system where bigger always seems to be better, where bottom lines and profit margins and year-on-year growth rule supreme, the designer has chosen to stay small—producing only one collection a year. “Making two collections a year is too hard for me, what’s more, four collections the way big brands do it. I can do it, but I just don’t want to. I want to be able to do whatever I want. I don’t do retail, which is why I can choose this path,” says Koizumi on his decision to eschew the fashion calendar and only focus on custom-made creations.

"I think if you create really good work, people won’t forget your brand,” he adds. Many a young designer would be tempted to cash in on the buzz, but not Koizumi. “Sometimes, people ask me why I don’t make more wearable clothes. But those clothes already exist in the market, so I don’t feel like I have to make them. I want to make something different. I don’t want to sacrifice my creativity for a commercial purpose. I don’t need that much money. I’m enjoying what I’m doing now—I can paint, I can make dresses, I can work with celebrities and great people. That’s enough. I want to have the freedom where I can stop if I want to stop,” he says.

Related article: Tomo Koizumi’s Enthralling Runway Debut For Ready-To-Wear Fall 2019

That freedom to pause or pivot is even more important to Koizumi now that he has rediscovered another metier in which to express himself. The designer studied painting, not fashion, when he was at university and has recently fallen back in love with the medium. “I don’t think I will create a new collection in 2024, because I want to focus on art,” says Koizumi, who has just held his first solo art exhibition in Tokyo in December. Spring/summer 2024 marked a turning point in the way he approached his work. Instead of his usual dramatic, delightful dresses, the pieces Koizumi created for the collection were more like wearable art—hand-painted soft sculptures that can be hung on the wall like Abstract Minimalist tapestries, or draped free-form around the body. “In the beginning, I was kind of stuck when it came to the idea of art. I thought it had to be square, it had to be on the wall, or it had to be in a frame. But then I thought maybe I can make something beautiful with what I have been doing—my aesthetic and my ruffle technique. I wanted to combine the two—fashion and art. I have always loved things that don’t fall into one category,” explains Koizumi on the impetus behind his latest collection.

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Which brings us to the eternal question: Is fashion art? Koizumi answers, “I’m still trying to figure that out, and I’m still struggling. It’s a question with no correct answer. Which is why it’s so interesting, and why it’s so worth it to explore. But I also believe the way that I’m struggling with the question is beautiful, because I think it will bring me somewhere new. The pieces I showed [for spring/summer 2024] are not the answer, but there is still beauty in that. I’m still shaping my own mind. And it’s fun.”

Editor-in-Chief: Kenneth Goh
Photographer: Stefan Khoo
Stylist: Jeffrey Yan
Fashion: Tomo Koizumi, Dolce&Gabanna & Roger Vivier
Hair: Ken Hong/ Evolve Salon
Makeup: Clarence Lee
Model: Kaimin / Now Model Management
Photographer’s assistants: Chong Ng, Yann Cloitre
Stylist’s assistant: Caleb Lim, Larissa Wong