Yohjiro
Takagi

Fashion runs in the family for Yohjiro Takagi. ‘I always wanted to create,’ says the Central Saint Martins Menswear designer with an infectious enthusiasm. His love for craft was passed down from generation to generation: Takagi’s grandmother was a fashion student in Japan and his grandfather owned a fabric company. ‘I’m curious about making textiles that are unique pieces,’ he says on his choice to study fashion, and unique is an understatement.

The garments featured in his graduate collection are inspired by the industrial landscape he grew up in. A knitted mass of computer cables and industrial waste becomes beautifully crafted bags and vests, and twinkling crystals formed from disused metal hardware litter the clothes. In this age of fast production, Takagi’s approach to design is grounded in a revitalising philosophy of simple yet authentic values, one that he will take with him wherever he may decide to go. ‘I just want to make with my hands,’ he explains. ‘It makes me happy.’ As for his work, Takagi is equally philosophical about its reception, ‘you’re free to think what you want about the work, maybe you love it or maybe you hate it, but you’re free to think.’

Bea Ross, BA Fashion Journalism
@beatricealiceross