Tsumori Chisato

You need only quickly scroll through the last few months of blog entries to see how little we're drawn to clothing using bold, colorful prints. We think maybe too many designers use print and pattern as a crutch, a quick way to make an impact. Tsumori Chisato, in our opinion, does prints the right way. With her work, the combination of prints and unexpected tailoring is very clearly her chosen avenue of expression--season after season, look after look, she is committed. Some pieces are basically wearable canvases, others are a dramatic stitching of several loud prints, others still use striking prints to accentuate solid fabrics.

Chisato names Issey Miyake as her mentor. She joined his company in 1977, after graduating from Bunka Fukusogakuin, a prestigious Japanese fashion school. He helped her start the label in 1990. Her business has steadily grown include a handful of namesake boutiques and in-store areas in dozens of other shops. However, her exposure to the western fashion scene had been limited until the last couple of years. In 2003, she showed in Paris for the first time and has been doing so ever since. It was just in the last couple of seasons that her clothing made its way to several US boutiques.

Metropolis Magazine has a good article about the designer.

Here are some looks from her Spring 2007 collection. Go here to see pictures of the complete collection.

Where to Buy

We first noticed Chisato in the online shop of Houston boutique Gurej.

Chicago boutique Hejfina picked up the line this fall.