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Award-winning designer Naoaki Mizuno is being hailed as the leader of a renaissance in Japanese fashion. Martin Webb gets the inside story on the emerging artist and his signature layered look.

"I do think there's a new movement in terms of Tokyo fashion, but I don't think I'm leading it. In fact, I don't even think I'm part of it." These are modest words when you consider that they're coming from Naoaki Mizuno, designer of Tokyo's most celebrated new fashion label, Vetement, and winner of this year's Shiseido Encouragement Award for best new designer at the 20th Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix and Moet et Chandon's New Designer's Award. They're even more modest when you consider that the press has labeled the movement that's storming the catwalks and fashion pages of late as "New Layered Style," a moniker Mizuno himself coined to describe his debut collection.

But the 34-year-old former protégé of Akira Onozuka, head designer for international fashion house and former Issey Miyake group label Zucca, is clearly not one to rest on his laurels. "Winning these prestigious prizes has really focused a lot of attention on my work," Mizuno says. "What's in question is how well Vetement can manage the pressure that comes with winning awards."
In just two seasons, Vetement has risen to the top of the handful of fashion brands setting the standard for Japan's "New Layered Style." Characterized by mismatched, multi-layered ensembles, often incorporating frayed or damaged items, the look sits somewhere between boho, hobo and farm laborer. It's a style that's also been embraced by Tokyo labels Toga, Number (N)ine and G.V.G.V., which are taking the concept in high fashion, ethnic and punk directions respectively.

Vetement's first catwalk show, for Spring/Summer 2002, was a happy, candy-colored affair that saw frizzy-haired models show off frayed, unfinished basics in floral and geometric prints. In stark contrast, the award-winning Fall/Winter 2002-2003 show was a triumph of grown-up grunge with a bucolic twist. Its floor-sweeping padded linen trench coats, multicolored rag-rug-look knits, and highly structured quilted skirts in earthy shades caused veritable tsunamis in the Japanese fashion world. The word from Vetement's bustling Nakameguro atelier is that the October show will, once again, propose a radically different look.

But Mizuno, who says concentration is the most important attribute of a designer, isn't giving anything away. Since his debut, much of his time has been spent in the renovation and preservation of an old warehouse just off Kotto Dori that now serves as the outlet for his much-coveted brand. The store itself provides some clues to the identity and philosophy Mizuno is trying to establish for Vetement: Unfinished floorboards, display shelves crafted from disassembled pianos, and a mobile constructed from wooden hangers give the store a rustic yet quirky ambience.

It's also a peaceful place, where the bespectacled, shaven-headed designer can occasionally be found taking time out from the atelier. Mizuno, whose personal uniform involves jeans and a white T-shirt, has taken great care to develop the store as a way to express himself to customers, saying, "I think it would be beneficial if we could open a dialogue between designer and consumer."

And if the Oita Prefecture native has his way, that dialogue may soon stretch far beyond Aoyama to the catwalks of France. "I do have a desire to show at the Paris collections," Mizuno confesses. "Vetement is not only aimed at Japanese or Asian people; I've always wanted people of all nationalities to wear it."

Indeed, the graduate of Tokyo Mode Gakuen fashion academy is uncomfortable with the state of Japanese fashion today. He describes Tokyo style as bizarre, saying he's ill at ease with the Japanese fetish for foreign brands and amused by the prevailing sneaker and combat pants style. "It's just not impressive anymore" says Mizuno. Having worked for Zucca on designs developed from functional clothing, such as school and restaurant uniforms, he's not a fan of design for design's sake. But this hasn't diminished his motivation to create.

"In comparison with designers of ages past, I think the basic will to create fashion remains unchanged," he says. "Personally, no matter how many years or decades come to pass, I'll still want to come out with fresh, new creations." And if the past 12 months are any indication, Mizuno may soon be making international headlines.

Photos by pas a pas

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