Tomihiro Kono’s ‘Space Creatures’ Sends His Sculpturesque Wigs Into Orbit
Photographed by Sayaka Maruyama.
Summary
- Japanese wigmaker and hair artist Tomihiro Kono’s latest book Space Creatures is now available
- The 368-page book documents his new series of “creature wigs,” spanning 2022 to 2025, exploring celestial and extraterrestrial forms
If anyone understands the transformative power of hair it’s Tomihiro Kono. The Japanese wig maker and artist name has made a name off his beautifully surreal “creature wigs,” wearables that are more alive than mere adornments. From resident avant pop- priestesses Björk and Grimes to fashion heavyweights like Junya Watanabe and COMME des GARÇONS, Kono has gained the reputation of culture’s go-to hair guy, and his latest book, Space Creatures, cements that title.
Following his previous edition, Fancy Creatures in 2023, which featured a constellation of nature-inspired wigs, the new publication channels the artful touch, while taking it to new heights. Photographed and designed in collaboration with his parter Sayaka Maruyama, the project details his latest creature wig series, created between 2022 and 2025, exploring creations that resemble unfamiliar organisms, cosmic beings or extraterrestrial forms.
Soft ‘S’-shaped finger waves evoke Old Hollywood, and are later fused with spectral color fades, chrome hardware, shimmering carapaces and watchful, eye-like ornaments, allowing for an easy drift between the self and the other, body and artifice. Kono likens hair to a “second skin,” a porous, programmable layer emblematic of our ever-shifting identities that lay beneath.
Space Creatures now for $45 USD via Konomad Editions online or in-person at Tsutaya Books in Ginza, Tokyo through March 16.
