Magazine Hijab

INSIDER TIPS
It’s hard not to relish the idea of this slight
and really rather kittenish woman, whose
fashion imagination runs to the most
unexpected interpretations of existing
typologies, sitting behind a desk balancing
the books. Though maybe we shouldn’t be
surprised.
Her designs, after all, are the product of an
exacting mind. She takes the peacoat, the
white shirt, the pencil skirt, the biker jacket
and the kilt and splices them together in
the most extraordinary combinations that
can look like one thing one moment and
then quite another. A parka elides into a
Prince of Wales check overcoat; jumper and
skirt sets are actually trompe l’oeil dresses.
Kilts turn into trousers, and stripy T-shirts
into knife-pleated tulle tops. Sheer hems
appear from nowhere to tumble down
beneath sweaters. Shaggy shearling spills
out of jacket openings.
In 2002, she made her first hire. Chico
Hashimoto, a quiet woman with a long
bob, is still with her today, though she’s
moved from the role of pattern cutter to
textile developer. “A friend introduced
us, and I immediately felt inspired by
Chitose and her ideas,” Ms Hashimoto
said when we met in Sacai’s studio in
nearby Daikanyama, an increasingly
trendy part of town. “Of course, then we
worked in her home.
Things have changed, especially for me. I’ve got a 1-year-old
daughter now, so I leave at 4pm these days.” Around us were
vases of arum lilies, bolts of fabric and boxes of grosgrain ribbon.
In another room, twenty-something boys in plaid shirts
and beanies and girls in pale jeans and Converse worked on
designs with the concentration of students in a library.
In a country where women’s lives are still circumscribed
by traditional roles and difficult career advancement – Japan
came 105th out of 136 in the World Economic Forum’s
Global Gender Gap Report of 2013; just 6 per cent of its career-track
employees are women – it’s fair to say that Chitose
stands out.
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