As attention in Paris turns to the intricate deconstruction offered by cult label Sacai, we interview founder, creative director and under-the-radar powerhouse, Chitose Abe, in MOJEH Issue 31.
By Natalie Trevis
Sacai is a brand of quietly cool ingenuity. The brainchild of creative director Chitose Abe, it is the longstanding Japanese brand fashion insiders like to name-drop, high street retailers emulate and collaborators like NikeLab and Moncler seek out for fashion kudos. The secret of Sacai’s appeal to fashion editors and buyers alike is in Abe’s remarkable ability to find new ways to meld impossible contrasts. “Sacai is about the new classic shape,” Abe says simply. Utilitarian parkas find sweetness in panels of guipure lace, while cardigans, camisoles and pleated skirts reveal themselves from behind to be single-piece dresses – a front to back magic trick at which Abe excels. The genesis of each piece is a classic, whether a trench coat, pinstripe shirt or Argyll sweater – the end result is anything but.
It’s no surprise to learn that Abe honed her talent over the course of eight years at Comme des Garçons, as a pattern-cutter under Rei Kawakubo, and later a designer for Kawakubo protégé Junya Watanabe. Although, her very first encounter with fashion came much earlier, as a child designing clothes for her dolls, inspired by her dressmaker mother. “Rei Kawakubo really taught me the importance of creating something completely new,” Abe tells us, “whether in thinking about my business or my creative designs.” It was Abe’s maternity leave that led her to consider the type of daily uniform she really wanted to wear: simple, functional, but inherently interesting. Sacai’s transcendence since 1999 has been slow and steady, a deliberate tactic employed by the thoughtful Abe in order to grow the brand organically.
With eyes on every part of the label, Abe is as likely to be found running payroll errands at the bank as she is cooking up the avant-garde silhouette of the season. Now, with a flagship store in Minami- Aoyama, Tokyo, 90 stockists around the world, a burgeoning menswear line in Sacai Men and a contemporary line, Sacai Luck, her methods have stood the test of time. A type of yin to the yang of the unbounded invention in her designs. “When I first started my business, I knew that I wanted to approach everything – whether it be designing or the business side – in a creative way and I have tried to stay true to that,” Abe says. “I did not want to work in a stereotypical way, but wanted to find my own path that worked for Sacai. Maybe because of this approach, the timing of showing my collections or opening my stores seems very different from other brands.”
Likewise, inspiration isn’t fleeting for Abe, but rooted in the calm, ordered philosophy that pervades her work and allows creativity to fly. “I do not work with seasonal inspirations... my collections are always influenced by my daily life in Tokyo, and the feelings I have living in this unique city. I think fashion has the power to transcend different cultures and languages.” This ability to traverse cultures and find a sartorial sweet spot in every one could be the reason Sacai boasts many powerful supporters, from Karl Lagerfeld to Suzy Menkes; it is also the subject of a retrospective book published by Rizzoli this year (Sacai: A to Z) and has garnered legions of loyal clients – Caroline Issa recently confessed that after the autumn/winter show, she ordered no less than four coats. But, there is no ego at stake when it comes to Abe’s work.“There is still a lot of room for growth and evolution,” she muses. “I would like to continue to grow it, so that one day, the brand can continue to exist even after I leave the company.”
Fearlessly challenging preconceptions with a love of deconstruction that is never derivative of those that have gone before, Abe’s Sacai is a breath of fresh air, a joyful brand of ever wilder contrasts, both in style and philosophy. The conceptual meets the street and the deliberately elusive meets fans as visible as Rihanna and Lupita Nyong’o. And that’s just what makes Sacai so desirable. “From the very beginning, I valued the importance of originality and unconventionality,” Abe says. She delivers both in spades.
