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Design Magazine Vol.231 on Sale December 27!

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24.12.26

Design Magazine  Vol.231 on Sale December 27!

COVER STORY
Maiko Kurogouchi
Fashion Designer

It's already been 14 years since Kurogouchi's debut. Mame Kurogouchi, run by Maiko Kurogouchi, uses textiles developed through probing deeply into technology with domestic production areas and at the same time expresses elaborate details and delicate expressions through further generating forms with beautiful curves to create a unique world. Her work has a sense of traditional depth, elegance, and simultaneously a contemporary feel. They are precisely the type of clothes that make one want to touch and wear. For each season, Kurogouchi decides on a new theme, conducts extensive research, and reflects it in her clothing. The theme for 2025 is Katachi ("form" in Japanese). While she says she places importance on everyday scenes and her own senses, how is her original world built? Here is a peek into her design perspective.

Feature1
Fashion re:boot―The Choices for Future Sustainability

The rise in awareness of sustainability over the past few years has led to a significant re-evaluation of the relationship between fashion and design. As fashion is more of a design-driven field, the controversy surrounding the large amounts of waste and environmental impact caused by it has made us aware of the limitations of conventional design. There is currently a rapid shift and reform underway, including reviewing materials and production processes, as well as optimizing employment structures. On the other hand, it has also been pointed out that rigidly defined sustainable standards are gradually stifling the creativity of designers and the quality of clothing. Under these circumstances, the challenge of sustainability that society is thrusting upon the fashion industry may need a designer's perspective to find the future and joy. We took an in-depth look at those who continue pursuing such endeavors.

A collaboration of designers and algorithms  A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE

From a single thread to fabric to a complete garment, clothing becomes a second skin between one's body and the environment when worn, but can also become the environment itself, adding a charming touch to space. Taking its name from "A Piece of Cloth," A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, who is ever-pursuing new methods of manufacturing clothes, from fundamental research on materials to production, cooperating with various fields and industries, has collaborated with the speculative design lab Synflux. What kind of future does this collaboration of humans and algorithms present to the clothes-making world?

Spiritual sustainability through harmony OK-RM

Goldwin 0 is a project launched by Goldwin to foster a deeper relationship to culture, circularity and fashion. The creative direction of this project was led by OK-RM, a design studio based in the UK. We visited their East London studio to speak with the founders Oliver Knight and Rory McGrath about the concept of Goldwin 0 and their approach to sustainability in fashion through developing design mechanisms to bring creativity together from the fields of visual art, music, spatial design, and poetry. Resulting in an the initiative that envisions a future where humans and nature coexist in harmony.

The future of the fashion ecosystem envisioned through materials Spiber

A decade ago, the idea of using artificial protein as a clothing fabric would have been a complete fantasy. But now, the Brewed Protein™ fiber--a dream fiber--developed by Yamagata-based venture company Spiber, has been attracting worldwide attention for the past few years. Widely adopted by various brands again this year, this material has the potential to revolutionize the very structure of the fashion industry. We visited the company's headquarters in Tsuruoka City.

Sustainable fashion: its origin and road ahead Text by Daijiro Mizuno

Pointed out as having a particularly significant environmental footprint, the fashion industry has been experiencing a major shift toward structural transformation in recent years. The so-called sustainable fashion emerged along the way, but what does the term actually refer to? And how will this trend evolve in the future? We will explore its historical background and prospects with Daijiro Mizuno, a professor at the Kyoto Institute of Technology specializing in fashion design.

The latest fashion in search of the best possible solution for creation and sustainability BUZIGAHILL

When you hear about fashion from Africa, you may imagine colorful and traditional garments. However, this is not the case with an attention-grabbing brand in today's high fashion industry. This brand is a more conceptual embodiment of Africa and has carved out an eccentric position in the world of high fashion. BUZIGAHILL was founded by Bobby Kolade, who returned to Africa to launch his business after working for European luxury brands.

Fashion as artistic journalism Yuima Nakazato

Where do clothes go after being manufactured, and how do they end their lives? Yuima Nakazato is an internationally recognized designer whose inspiration lies in the "end of clothes," and has been participating at Haute Couture Week in Paris as the only official guest designer from Japan today. We interviewed Nakazato, who places sustainability at the core of his design and conceives fashion as artistic journalism.

A spiritual sustainability through unraveling the roots of the self coconogacco

Coconogacco is a private school founded by fashion designer Yoshikazu Yamagata. It is not where you learn about fashion or acquire skills, but a place where you cultivate design creation that explores the essence of fashion, which leads to spiritual sustainability. We delve into Yamagata's ideas that redefine Japanese fashion education through a focus on ideas and expression.

Innovations in artistic education by a dyeing and weaving artist Ars Shimura

Dyeing and weaving artist and essayist, Fukumi Shimura, established Ars Shimura in 2013 at the age of 88, along with her daughter Yoko and grandson Shoji. More than just a place to acquire technical skills, Ars Shimura is a place to explore the deep connection between nature and humans, the artistry of handcrafts, and the philosophies and ideologies that underpin them. Through the words of these three visionaries, we catch a glimpse of craftsmanship that transcends sustainability.

Feature 2
Think the Water― Water and Design in the Reiwa Era (Since 2019)

Water is available almost everywhere in our daily living. The fact this is taken for granted may be depriving us of the opportunity to think closely about water. In this respect, design has developed unique approaches, such as foregrounding "invisible water" on a daily basis and reexamining aspects its relationship with the locals and people from the perspective of water. The effects of climate change have already reached our daily living. Thinking about water from the perspective of design is a big step toward discovering new aesthetic values as well as confronting the unpredictability of the global environment. In this special feature, we would like to take a broad look at the value of water and design, from the latest products to new proposals for green infrastructure. 

SCOPE

The Aesthetics of Contemporary Design we+ Pursues
WOHA's Vision for Architecture as a Living Organism

SERIES

Ambience
Chen Wei
LEADERS
Shinichi Takemura (Cultural anthropologist)
Global Creators Labs
Ginkgo Bioworks  Kyoko Nakajima
Sci-Tech File
What effect does venom have? What is it good for? Parasitoid wasp venom unraveled from the molecular level  Keiichiro Fujisaki
From a single piece
Pak Awang Sofa (1960s)  Sakura Nomiyama
AFRICAN PRACTITIONERS
Jomo Tariku (Furniture designer)  Maki Nakata
EYES ON K-DESIGN
SEOUL DESIGN 2024  Yoo Seoung-joo
Takayuki Fukatsu's Back and Forth Chronicles
3D-printed architecture
DESIGN FOR DECISION-MAKING
Exploratory research methods for cultivating shared vision  Shunsuke Ishikawa (KESIKI)
TIMELESS INGENUITY
An infinite measure  Chihiro Minato
Exercises in Poetic Engineering
Machines still uncertain  Shohei Takei (nomena)
Viewpoint Monologue
Compromise  Naoki Ono
Creators Navi
Adam Nathaniel Furman, Atsuhiro Nakauchi, Atsuro Miyako, Natalia Criado, Studio ThusThat, Hiroshi Sugit
To perceive the actuality
Doodling on videos  Haruka Misawa

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