Chitose Abe

Helping fly the flag for the Japanese fashion industry overseas, Chitose Abe continues to challenge the conventions of masculinity and femininity with her carefully crafted wardrobe staples put out under her own label, sacai. Working at COMME des GARÇONS – firstly as a pattern maker then alongside Junya Watanabe – equipped her with the skills to launch the brand back in 1998 and since then she’s seen her collections go from cult concern to global powerhouse with her creations stocked in some of the world’s most forward-thinking stores, including colette, Biffi and Joyce. Her men’s collection first launched in 2009 and displays a similarly contemporary aesthetic as that of her women’s line, elevating classic menswear pieces with directional details and unexpected textures and shapes. Abe’s 2017 spring/summer menswear line comes with purples and pinks with more than a nod to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, while her touch has also been visible through sacai’s collaborations with Hender Scheme and fragment design this year.