Chitose abe biography of william
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“It was controversial; usually libraries are dark to protect the books.” So they gave him a call. sacai's debut runway was a stunning success, earning the title of the show of the season and even prompting Karl Lagerfeld to send flowers to Chitose Abe. Just one year later, sacai was included in the official Paris Fashion Week schedule.
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First Collaboration with Nike - 2015
In 2015 sacai would announce what would be their most iconic collaboration to date, a seasonal collection with Nike.
“I tried Claridge’s, but it was too…classy,” she said. There was plenty of unrepeatable fashion gossip, and talk of various travels, including the observation that there isn’t a decent hotel in the Marais in Paris, where Sacai now has its showroom during fashion week. Launched in 1999, Chitose Abe patiently waited twelve years before presenting her first show.
This innovative approach quickly garnered attention and positioned Sacai as a trailblazer in the fashion realm.
Sacai’s Rise to Global Acclaim: A Fusion of Tradition and Modernity
Sacai made its mark on the international stage by debuting at Paris Fashion Week in 2009. “It started with a lot of sochu, which is like drinking neat vodka.
With over 90 stockists worldwide, including renowned names like Biffi in Milan and Colette in Paris, Sacai’s global influence underscored Chitose Abe’s ability to transcend cultural boundaries.
Innovative Collaborations and Expanding Horizons
Chitose Abe’s entrepreneurial spirit manifested in groundbreaking collaborations.
“I’ll go to a denim factory in Wakayama, for example, to weave a jacquard,” she said. “Chitose’s never disappoints. In 2019, Sacai teamed up with global giants Nike and Beats by Dre, showcasing the brand’s versatility and its ability to seamlessly merge high fashion with sportswear and technology. But I want my employees to have the choice.”
It wasn’t until 2003 that Chitose rented her first office space – a warehouse far from central Tokyo but costing an affordable 100,000 yen (£600) a month.
Buyers and customers who saw her clothing in the store, started asking who was behind the refreshing brand, to which they got redirected to Abe-san herself.
“I wasn’t planning long term. At the end of the month, I even do the accounting.”
It’s hard not to relish the idea of this slight and really rather kittenish woman, whose fashion imagination runs to the most unexpected interpretations of existing typologies, sitting behind a desk balancing the books.
That’s when Karl Lagerfeld started sending her flowers.
High-end fashion has been in thrall to its own heritage for quite a while now. Rei Kawakubo, for whom she worked for eight years, set up Comme des Garçons in 1969, carefully creating a multi-tier company that produced clothing from the most avant-garde costumes to the most wearable T-shirts.
Instead, we met outside. Chico Hashimoto, a quiet woman with a long bob, is still with her today, though she’s moved from the role of pattern cutter to textile developer. It follows different rules.”
As does Ms Abe. One night we met in a woody little restaurant in Hiroo – part of Tokyo’s Shibuya shopping district – and ordered generous amounts of cold sake, which we drank from tiny porcelain cups.
Junichi does the nights in between, and they share the housework. “They’re not ostentatious, not for showing off. At the back of the first floor, the walls of the former kitchen were still covered in oil. The brand has since expanded beyond womenswear, with a men’s line launched in 2009 that mirrors the same approach of fusing genres and materials, bringing Abe’s vision to a broader audience.
“I look at the collection and see ideas I’ve never seen before.”
I suspect there was never much doubt that Chitose Sakai would end up in fashion.