Name: Yasuko Furuta
Age: 43
Provenance: Gifu Prefecture, Japan
CURRICULUM VITAE: Furuta, who studied patternmaking and fashion design at the elite French school ESMOD, has always had a way of confounding expectations. "I remember one project where I didn't know what to make, so I made a question mark and attached it to a shirt," she says. "The teacher was perplexed, but I loved that reaction!"
Related: Meet Jeffrey Dodd, New York's Next It-Designer
When In Rome: Since she first showed her line, Toga, at Tokyo Fashion Week in 2001, Furuta has found a cult following for her exquisite bricolage creations, which remix, say, Native American patterns and traditional Japanese paper prints in tailored sportswear silhouettes. Fashion blogger Susie Bubble wears wrap-over trousers and striped tops with beaded bows up the sleeves from the label, while Chloë Sevigny and Katy Perry have turned up in Furuta's multibuckle ankle boots. The line's name, taken from the ancient garment made from a single piece of fabric draped around the body, "has the connotation of being the archetype of clothing," says the designer.
Related: 5 Female Boutique Owners You Need to Know Now
London calling: Furuta has courted a wider audience by showing her collection in Paris for several seasons. She looked a bit farther west for her cowgirl-inspired fall/winter 2014 collection, staging a presentation during London Fashion Week. Models swathed in layers of inky rubber and sheer iridescent organza with waist-defining leather-and-horsehair belts stood on pedestals in a gallery space that was once a Victorian warehouse. "There is a complex mix of traditional and independent cultures in London and a reverence for experimental luxury," Furuta says, citing the English designer Dame Vivienne Westwood as an icon. "I want to produce new ideas that will become future standards."
Prices: From $154 for a bonded-wool bra to $5,082 for a fur-embellished goatskin jacket
Stockists: Opening Ceremony in New York City; Ikram in Chicago; Satine Kawaii in Los Angeles
This article appeared in the June 2014 issue of ELLE magazine.
