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How Sacai’s Chitose Abe Became One Of Fashion’s Most Gifted Collaborators

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Fashion

How Sacai’s Chitose Abe Became One Of Fashion’s Most Gifted Collaborators

From designing haute couture for Jean Paul Gaultier to working on a collection with Dior Men that launches this month, Sacai founder Chitose Abe has been keeping busy. We speak with the Japanese designer to find out how she keeps it all together.

by Gordon Ng  /   November 15, 2021
sacai

Before founding Sacai in 1999, Japanese designer Chitose Abe worked at Comme des Garcons and Junya Watanabe, honing pattern cutting and design skills that would arguably inform the complex and interesting hybrid constructions that are now a signature of her own label. Credit: Victor Demarchelier

Even for casual observers of fashion, it’s easy to see that the Japanese label Sacai is everywhere these days. Collaboration is a game that the 22-year-old fashion house plays well.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Hender Scheme’s Founder On The Brand’s East-Meets-West Union With Tod’s

To wit: Its ongoing tie-up with Nike, which started in 2015, has birthed a steady stream of covetable sneaker designs that regularly sell out within the day of launch.

sacai
Credit:Club21

Sacai’s standalone boutique at Hilton Hotel opened in January 2021 and feautres one-of-a-kind furniture designed and produced by the brand’s longtime partner, Japanese collage/DIY artist group Gelchop.

The year 2021 in particular has seen the brand embark on some of its most ambitious partnerships to date: French brand A.P.C, Japanese tulle extraordinaire Tomo Koizumi, couturier Jean Paul Gaultier, buzzy artist Kaws and even Kim Jones of Dior are among the diverse range of names that have worked with its founder Chitose Abe so far.

READ MORE: What You Need To Know About Balenciaga’s “Hacker” Project With Gucci

“I believe we have friends and family who understand our passion, and believe in what we do and in our continuous effort to make better clothes,” says Abe of this seemingly ready and willing stream of co-conspirators.

sacai
Credit:Sacai

Sacai created a summer capsule of tulle bags with Tomo Koizumi.

It’s an interesting point that she’s making because it alludes to the uniqueness of Sacai’s pieces and why so many (both consumers and collaborators) are drawn to the brand.

Its recognisable signature is hybrid clothing. Almost every one of its designs can be read as a combination of nouns. A sweater is also a shirt; a skirt is also a pair of pants; tailored jackets are also parkas, and so on.

sacai
Credit:Sacai

A look from Sacai’s collaboration with the contemporary artist Kaws.

The guile and wit of Sacai’s spliced-together designs mean that a single garment can look completely different from various angles. And though this suggests complex and inscrutable clothing, the opposite is true.

“Our core essence and belief have always been to create something truly necessary. Sacai clothes are designed to be worn in everyday life,” explains Abe.

READ MORE: Chenpeng Is The Young Chinese Label Striving For Fashion Egalitarianism

And there are plenty who are in agreement. In a 2014 interview with the biannual magazine The Gentlewoman, Akiko Fukai – doyenne of the Kyoto Costume Institute – for example sums up Abe’s designs as “wearable… not ostentatious, not for showing off”.

sacai
Credit:Sacai

Sacai’s apparel collection with Nike in August 2021 highlighted the beauty of motion by remixing the latter’s performance garments with Abe’s trademark voluminous silhouettes.

At the start of the pandemic lockdown last year, Sacai made it a point to create “clothes that people can relax in at home,” points out Abe. More recently – sensing a shift in mood – her collections have been geared towards “matching people’s desire to dress up and go out”.

READ MORE: Singapore Label Rye Takes Its Debut Loungewear Line Out Of WFH Territory

For Spring Summer 2022, for instance, the brand has incorporated the use of water-repellent technical fabrics – go on and wear the pieces out; they might make a fashion statement, but they will also keep you dry in this era of crazy climate change.

This method of joining disparate elements together into beautiful yet practical wholes might also offer a parallel explanation for Abe’s talents as a collaborator. For the 56-year-old, teaming up with other names presents opportunities to “represent the many aspects we have as a brand.”

READ MORE: You Can Already Cop Items From The Sacai X Jean Paul Gaultier Show

Earlier this year, for example, Sacai unveiled a collection of haute couture for Jean Paul Gaultier – part of the French fashion house’s experiment to refresh its couture arm by inviting guest designers to take the reins.

sacai
Credit:Sacai

Sacai was the first brand to kick off Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture collaboration project this year.

In this collaboration, Abe played up Sacai’s ability to make garments that are more-than-meets-the-eye and fused in iconic Gaultier motifs like cone bras, trompe l’oeil tattoo prints and Breton stripes.

READ MORE: The Best Designs And Innovations Daniel Lee Brought To Bottega Veneta

The looks revealed on the runway were striking with neither designer’s signatures overpowering the other’s. Aesthetically, it’s a fine line to toe and Abe nailed it.

“When we do collaborations, it needs to have the right balance between Sacai signatures and the unexpected,” she says. “I try to respect the partner and add the essence of our brand for equal presence.”

sacai
Credit:Sacai

Tattoo artist Doctor Woo was roped in to create illustrations for the Gaultier Paris by Sacai couture collection.

That equilibrium is also on view with Dior Men, the latest big-name collaboration for Sacai that hits the French luxury maison’s boutiques this month. “We’ve known each other for a long time and always wanted to do something together, and it finally happened,” says Abe of Kim Jones, artistic director of Dior Men.

READ MORE: Dior S/S ’22 Show: The French House Transported Us Back To The Marc Bohan Era

She further describes the collaborative capsule as a “creative conversation” and a meeting of two heritages and cultures. The result, as Dior describes in its press notes, is its own unique savoir-faire “blended with Sacai’s technicality”.

sacai
Credit:Brett Lloyd

The Dior and Sacai collaboration spans ready-to-wear, bags, shoes and accessories that combine motifs from the French luxury maison (think floral patterns) with the Japanese brand’s inventive combinations of technical fabrics and details such as utilitarian pockets and drawstrings.

Take the Tailleur Oblique – a softly-shaped, one-button, double-breasted suit that Jones has made his signature silhouette for Dior. Traditionally cut from fine wool, it’s been recontextualised using technical fabrics and details that tip the tailoring into sportier territory.

READ MORE: The Biro Brothers’ Guide To Buying And Caring For Your Artisanal Denims During These Times

Both brands share an affinity for Japanese denim (Dior is often considered a pioneer of designer jeans). Tapping on that, Kim and Abe have used the material to create a cobranded patch (the Sacai logo is rotated and worked into the ‘i’ in Dior) that turns up on a number of items in the capsule.

sacai
Credit:Sophie Carre

Kim Jone’s Tailleur Oblique jacket for Dior Men gets the Chitose Abe touch with technical fabrics and details that tip the tailoring into sportier territory.

There’s also an elegant jean jacket finished with drawstring toggle cords at the hem. The same drawstring detail is also worked into various versions of the Saddle bag and even the backs of berets made by longtime Dior milliner Stephen Jones, adding a utilitarian touch.

“If we think that something is fun, we can do it right away,” says Abe of the freedom that comes with being both owner and designer of Sacai.

sacai
Credit:Sacai

Sneakers borne out of a three-way partnership (yes, three) between Sacai, Nike and streetwear label Clot.

That lightness of spirit and Abe’s considered approach may well explain why Sacai partnerships – in an era of non-stop brand dalliances – still stand out. Collaborations, as she puts it, “are not special projects for Sacai, but a necessary element of expression in our collections.”

Ahead, a product showcase of merchandise from Sacai’s in-demand collaborations this year.


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Exclusive: Hender Scheme’s Founder On The Brand’s East-Meets-West Union With Tod’s

https://www.femalemag.com.sg/gallery/fashion/sacai-chitose-abe-fashion-collaboration-interview/
How Sacai's Chitose Abe Became One Of Fashion's Most Gifted Collaborators
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SACAI X TOMO KOIZUMI
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SACAI X KAWS
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GAULTIER PARIS BY SACAI
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SACAI X EMOTIONALLY UNAVAILABLE
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NIKE X SACAI APPAREL COLLECTION
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CLOT X SACAI X NIKE
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NIKE X SACAI X FRAGMENT
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SACAI X HAYN X HANK WILLIS THOMAS
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A version of this article first appeared in the November 2021 Crazy Cool Asia edition of FEMALE

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MCI (P) 047/10/2021. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2022 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.