This article originally appeared in Hypebeast Magazine Issue #36

Long before quiet luxury was a hard-trending hashtag, designer Ryota Iwai perfected it with his no-fuss approach to style. The Japanese designer founded his label, Auralee, in 2015, at a time when logomania ruled the runways and peplums had sartorialists in a chokehold. Iwai, however, chose understatement over spectacle: tangible, precision-cut basics executed with obsessive mill-level fabrics that were made to withstand the trend cycle’s swiftly changing tides (and oftentimes, turn a blind eye to them entirely).

Tokyo’s fashion circle was longing for a departure from chaotic fads, and Auralee’s refreshingly clean approach quenched that minimalist thirst. Instead of reinventing the austere dress code, Auralee spun it with everything from twisted canvas smocks and cashmere sweaters to utilitarian overcoats and high-gauge cotton knits—essentials for a modular wardrobe. It doesn’t hurt that the brand sources the best-quality fabrics, be they moleskin shearlings on formal vests, spongy bonded Meltons on dress pants, or soft alpaca wools on hooded coats. Iwai’s eye for rich textiles, coupled with his ability to cut them into universally appealing silhouettes, ultimately earned Auralee the Fashion Prize of Tokyo in 2019. That accolade granted the fledgling label access to Paris Fashion Week’s global stage, where Iwai has shown his latest design manifestos in presentation and runway formats ever since.

Fast forward to the Paris menswear shows this past June. Iwai’s Spring 2026 collection called on the Japanese marvel of “Haru Ichiban,” or “the strong winds of spring.” His vestiary vision was as follows: breezy leather coats, tropical cashmere suits, organic cotton parkas, and easygoing button-ups, all styled with Auralee’s signature nonchalance. Perhaps the line’s most memorable offering, however, was down below, where almost every model showed toe in this season’s most persuasive bid for mod flip-flops — now the trend-of-the-moment on most fashion editors’ tongues.

Auralee doesn’t follow fashion’s crazes; it incites them. As a result, the label is quickly exiting its “if you know, you know” status in the industry. But if you’re still wrapping your head around the many facets of this imprint’s genius, Ryota Iwai himself is here to fill you in.

When did fashion first enter the picture for you?

Ryota Iwai: I got interested in fashion through the influence of my older brother. When I was around 13, there was a blossoming scene of vintage stores in Kobe, and my brother would take me to them all the time. Those experiences opened my eyes to the impact of clothing.

What was it like growing up in Kobe? What were you interested in as a kid?

It was very ordinary. I was raised in a typical family. My days were spent doing the things that kids do: playing baseball and soccer, and reading comics like Doraemon.

You attended Bunka Fashion College, the same school as some of the greats — Yohji Yamamoto, Jun Takahashi, and Nigo included. How did your time in school influence your fashion language?

I first graduated from a normal college with a degree in business, and then attended Bunka through their night school program while working part-time jobs during the day. My time at Bunka was valuable in establishing foundational knowledge and skills, but in the end the real development came from doing the actual work.

When you left college, where did you cut your teeth?

After graduating from Bunka, I worked at one knit-focused brand and another cut-and-sew-focused brand, where I specialized in pattern-making and design.

What inspired you to launch Auralee?

My experience working at those previous brands made me want to start a brand of my own from the ground up.

When you started the brand, what was your initial goal?

The initial goal of the brand was just to make sure it could continue, to eventually be able to grow enough to support a team. I wanted to be able to support the people who supported the brand from its inception, including the suppliers and factories that made the collections happen.

What was the biggest challenge you faced when building Auralee?

Although there have been many difficulties and every day brings its own series of challenges, looking back now, I feel that all of these experiences were necessary. When faced with having to make some of these larger decisions, I am proud that we challenged ourselves, even if it was scary or if people advised us to do the opposite. I think those experiences made us the brand that we are now. The biggest challenge and also the biggest lesson so far was bringing the collection to Paris. We had no prior experience, and we had been warned that it would be difficult for a brand like ours to find an audience overseas. But even if there were difficult seasons and painful memories, I am glad that we took that challenge on.

You’ve never seemed particularly concerned with the trend cycle. What is the primary focus in your design process?

Whether it be a cotton T-shirt, pair of socks, cashmere coat, or leather blouson, the focus is to try to create the absolute best version of a garment and the right fabric to achieve it.

How do you go about selecting and sourcing your textiles? One of the most common things I hear about your brand is that the clothes feel sublime.

I am especially flattered to hear that, as one of our biggest aims is to create garments that people feel good and comfortable in. At the end of the day, it is the fabric that makes a piece of clothing feel good, and our unique position in developing our own fabrics is what allows us to hopefully achieve this. In sourcing materials to create our textiles, I aim to first find the highest quality raw materials from all across the globe, and whenever possible, I actually visit these suppliers. This raw material research is what inspires the thread, fabric development, and ultimately the designs that best express these fabrics.

The Auralee cult is powerful. What do you think it is about your label that hooks people with such strength?

You know, I am not sure to be honest, but I certainly feel blessed that people identify with what we are making. I think perhaps we were lucky to start the brand at a time that happened to coincide with a shift in taste and value towards quality, longevity, and being informed.

After showing presentations, you made your runway debut in Paris in January of last year. Was it always your goal to stage a show on the Paris Fashion Week calendar?

Earlier on, I think we were more focused on and consumed with everyday goals, so we couldn’t even fathom something like doing a show in Paris. However, after opening our flagship store back in 2017, bringing the collection overseas was the next challenge that I was interested in trying to take on.

After applying and ultimately receiving the Fashion Prize of Tokyo, we were supported to do our first presentation in 2019. After seeing the effect of participating in the presentation calendar, we aimed to eventually join the official show calendar, which we have now been a part of since AW24.

How has your involvement in fashion week changed the perception of your brand?

I could never have imagined that the brand would take on a global presence, and fashion week has provided us with a platform to showcase our work to a much wider audience than we could have imagined. One of the happiest moments for me early on was seeing people around Tokyo wearing our pieces. Now, I can’t believe that there are those people around the world.

Another important part of the shows is that they offer the chance to show the collection beyond the product. Showing the collections styled and in motion has allowed us to illustrate the brand’s world and tell the story of the seasons in a more immersive way than what would be possible with just a static medium.

Your collaborations with New Balance and Tekla have also expanded Auralee’s consumer scope. How do you go about choosing collaborators?

They absolutely have. Working with them has been and continues to be an incredible experience. I wouldn’t want to do something just for the sake of doing it or ever go overboard with collaborations. But as with the partners we have worked with until now, it comes down to empathy and shared respect and values. We want to do things that feel natural but interesting, things that would ideally end up being creatively greater than the sum of their parts.

Can you describe your working dynamic today? What is a day at the Auralee studio like? Has your team expanded?

It really depends on what stage we are in for the next collection, but a typical day is busy. For me, it starts early and ends late. I can be focused on anything from fabric research, cutting, or pattern meetings, to checking in on sales performance.

Regarding the team, I have only been used to working with a small, close-knit team, and although I do not want to have a huge operation, we may be at the stage of having to consider how to naturally expand towards the future, as the brand is growing.

What was on the moodboard for your Spring 2026 show in Paris?

That show was inspired by the change of the seasons. In Japan, the transition into spring is brought upon by strong winds and a mix of colder or warmer days, which often brings about odd layering, or people dressing in completely different tensions. I find this period of unintentional mismatching to be very charming.

Now that you’re celebrating your 10th anniversary, what did you want to communicate on the runway?

We treated this season just like any other season, and we have taken on this year just as if it were any other year.

So much has changed in fashion since you first started your label. What do you think the fashion industry needs right now?

I am not in any position to speak of the industry as a whole. However, for me personally, I am wary of what we can do to maintain the future of production. Even in Japan, where there is still a relatively strong production industry, we are seeing the disappearance or slowdown of historic producers and factories. I hope that we can find a way to continue to better support and nurture the future of these integral parts, practices, and people.

Looking back at how far you’ve come, is there anything that you would do differently?

I wouldn’t want to dwell on thinking of what I would have done differently. Of course, we have come across a variety of challenges and have made our share of mistakes, but I wouldn’t say there are any major regrets. If anything, I am grateful that we have tried, and hopefully have learned or improved from everything that we’ve done until now — good or bad.

What do you hope for the future of Auralee?

I just want to keep on as we have until now. I simply hope to continue to build and improve on our collections, quality, and the vision of the brand.