TOGA Designer : Yasuko Furuta Special Interview featured on the gap PRESS magazine.

Q. When did you start to be aware of designers?

A. When I was in junior high school and high school, my desire for approval and self-esteem grew, and as I began to face my personality, I was not accustomed to the surrounding environment and social trends.

At that time, I was shocked to see the collections of Comme des Garcons and Vivienne Westwood. Back then, I wasn't so conscious of it, but with the help of my rebellion against conservative women, I was very attracted to the avant-garde clothes made by female designers.
On the contrary, I wasn't interested in clothes made by male designers.

Q. You learned a lot from fashion during a sensitive period?

A. I aspired to become a designer because clothes gave me support to overcome my weaknesses. There is no simpler tool for expressing yourself than by accepting that your personality is different from others'. I think the big advantage of fashion is that minorities can send messages to majority.

TOGA's creativity is not easy, but I hope that people find a new way to see themselves when they're thinking about how to wear one of my designs? if it could be a positive support that would be a wonderful thing.

Q. Please tell us what you are personally interested in recently.

A. I think that there's a big difference between something being visually easy-to-understand and catchy and something explanatory being catchy and easy-to-understand, and I'm interested in artists who fill the gap. I'm especially interested in female manga artists Natsujikei Miyazaki and Pesuyama Poppy.

Natsujikei wrote manga like "Adam to Eve no Rakuen Tsuihou Sareta Kedo..."(Kodansha) and "Anata wa Bun-chan no Koi (Kodansha)". They're so interesting I've read almost all of them. Pesuyama wrote "Jibun no karada o yurusu made"(Shogakukan), which was deeply interesting.

There are many other artists I like, and I'm especially interested in those who are trying to create a better world in a world where various things are happening.

gap PRESS

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