Style File

The latest news from the world of fashion

WHAT DID THE FOX SAY?

Hours before the start of Maison Kitsuné’s Asian leg of its Parisien Tour, we chat with the incredibly chill Masaya Kuroki. The co-founder and designer of the French cult brand shares with us his approach to fashion.

You started out in architecture but gravitated towards fashion. Was it a difficult transition from designing buildings to designing clothing?

Not really. I don’t approach fashion as an avant garde fashion designer ‒ it’s everyday clothing so it’s always about simple structure. Despite my background, there’s actually no architectural influence in my clothing designs. Me and Gildas Loaëc (co-founder), we’re very simple. We do styles that we like and think we should have a go at. For example, if we think a certain product this season is cool, maybe we’ll do it in a different fabric the next season. There’s no intensive design work but we stay creative and we’re always on the look out for what’s new but always simply interpreted.

With the newly introduced pre-collections, you’ll be doing about six collections per year.

That’s a lot of work. But we love to work. When you have put in a good day of work, your meal tastes better, your family looks better and you feel generally better. It’s not about the amount of work ‒ because everybody’s got a lot of work to do ‒ but the quality of work. That’s important.

What is the story behind the Parisien Tour collection?

They are products people can just buy and wear as pyjamas or do sports in. They are more of souvenir pieces than a collection.

There is a strong following for indie music and fashion in Singapore. Are there plans for a standalone store here?

Maybe one day we will have a flagship store here. I know Singaporeans love coffee so maybe a coffee shop first and then we’ll see. If there’s a space for us, of course.