Tsumori Chisato wears her own whimsical aesthetic well. The petite fashion designer sits in front of me adorned with her own youthful creations - a bright sequinned tunic featuring a cartoon leopard, a slouchy white cashmere cardigan and eclectic jewellery. 'This is an Australian opal,' she says, pointing to the large, milky blue rock on her finger.
The protegee of Issey Miyake set up her own brand in 1990. It now has more than 40 points of sale, many free-standing stores in Asia and is expanding steadily throughout the US, Italy, Russia and Scandinavia. Chisato is eager to extend her reach beyond Japan's ailing economy and her approach, in terms of business and design, is very inclusive of other cultures.
'When I am moving into different markets, it is important to deal with local partners to produce the stores and to represent my line in the most effective way,' she says, perfect black hair hanging loose down to her waist and with the kind of immaculate grooming that only seems to find home on French or Japanese women. She is flanked by PR girls who nod at her answers throughout the translated interview.
In Hong Kong, although multinational Western brands still rule the roost, even a cursory glance at our youth culture shows that local inspirations lie in Japanese fashion. When she inaugurated her new store at the IFC mall last month, diehard fans brought along their cameras and favourite Tsumori Chisato outfits to mark the occasion. For the store's opening, Chisato hosted an exhibition with I.T of various iconic pieces from the past 20 years.
'I want a lot of different people to see and experience my clothes this time, so specifically the collaboration with [local department store] I.T is very important ... in this region.'
Chisato has a Beijing store opening soon and another in Singapore, in January. Her aspirations to develop outside of her native Japan seems to be going swimmingly with the help of locals.