*The world’s largest contest hosted by the major Spanish apparel company, "MANGO". It is held every other year, and last year was the third contest.
Motonari ono is a brand with a sense of couture that does not pale in comparison to high-end U.S. and European brands. While being a casual mainstream Tokyo brand, it is also unique in its own way. Motonari Ono, a young designer who is only 29, spent his school days learning how to create clothes in London and Antwerp. After training at a maison in London, he returned to Japan and established the brand "motonari ono." Mr. Ono, a “self-proclaimed otaku designer," says of his brand: "I just keep making what I think is cool, so there actually is no message. My designs are heavily influenced by Gothic-Lolita fashion and my high school days, when fashion was really popular".
We asked the versatile fashion prodigy about episodes in his life up to his debut, the different values in European and Japanese fashion, and his 2011-12 Fall-Winter collection to be announced in March.
You announced your 2011 Spring-Summer collection in a short movie format which gave us a more elegant and erotic impression than usual. What was your theme?
Ono：Military couture. I wanted to show both the hard military aspect and the romantic aspect — I use a lot of lace and frills in my style — in one collection. It seems like men’s wear, yet is elegant; hard yet tender.
I’ve had the military theme from when I used "female knights in medieval Europe" as my theme for my second collection（2009 Spring-Summer）after my 2008-09 Fall-Winter debut collection. At the time, I had just started my collection and I wasn’t able to express myself fully. I felt that my collection was incomplete, so now that I’m able to express my feelings in my work, I wanted to try my hand once more at a military theme, with better quality.
How was the reaction to your collection?
Ono：My pieces will be newly sold in the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi and Seibu Shibuya stores in Japan starting from 2011 Spring-Summer. I’m happy that department stores are increasingly moving toward supporting new designers. My work was largely featured in the "Creators meet Shibuya* " held last August in the Seibu Shibuya store. In response to my video, it seems that my customers highly praised my attitude of trying something new.
In shows, there are limits to things like the number of models we can use due to budgetary constraints, and so you cannot express yourself 100%. The advantage of video is that you can spend plenty of time on hair and makeup, and present a perfect creation with just one model.
*An event that was a collaboration between the Seibu Shibuya store and JFW, where new fashion pieces and miscellaneous goods by JFW creators were introduced and sold for a limited time only.
Why did you choose to work in fashion? What made you decide on this career path?
Ono：I’m from Fuji City in Shizuoka Prefecture, so I was basically brought up at the base of Mt. Fuji. Right now I’m 29, but when I was in high school, Japanese fashion was all the rage. At the time, visual-style bands were popular and many people copied their styles, so everyone including myself would be dressed in eccentric outfits（laughs）. It was a time when fashion had momentum, so I naturally became interested in fashion. "Brands" were popular, so I spent all the money I earned from my part-time jobs on clothes.
After graduating from high school, you went to Tokyo and enrolled at the Mejiro Fashion & Art College, then went to London after graduation, is that correct?
Ono：I wanted to go to the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, so I first went to the London College of Fashion（LCF）for one year. At LCF, they taught you how to create portfolios for acceptance at colleges, and the normal flow of things in the UK is to take an art course from high school, go on to a foundation course, and then go to college for two or three years.
After graduating from LCF, I heard that Antwerp also had a good school, so I also applied to the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. I was accepted at both Antwerp and Saint Martins, so I decided to go to Antwerp, which had lower tuition（laughs）.
I went to Antwerp and just as I had started thinking that perhaps London was better suited for me, a friend from LCF introduced me to Bora Aksu, who looked at my work and invited me to work with him. I joined him as a patterner, but apparently the two designers of matohu had also worked with him before me. I guess they trust Japanese people for technical things.
I learned patterning on my own, but I think I was able to do so because of my studies in London. In Japan, when students are unsure of how to do something, they tend to ask before they think, but in London, you are first encouraged to try out what you think is right. I was really able to cultivate this ability to think for myself in London. I worked with Bora for two seasons, but I absorbed a lot as everything was produced in the atelier.
After returning to Japan in 2006, you established the brand "motonari ono". Looking back, what are your thoughts on that period of your life?
Ono：Right after coming back to Japan, I had no idea where to start… I didn’t know how to invite people to my personal exhibition, so I looked up joint exhibition information in "So-en" magazine. There, I found out that there was a system called the "yellow booth" in rooms, where newcomers could exhibit their work for one season only at a discount. When I exhibited the work that I made in London, I got a call from Mika Sato, the executive producer of rooms, who suggested that we do something fun together. We launched a massive exhibition right afterwards. However, since I did not have any income immediately after launching my brand, I earned my living drawing illustrations. I also wanted to work drawing pictures. Even now, I draw illustrations for magazines and advertisements.
By exhibiting at rooms, I met a lot of people. I always liked the singer Mika Nakashima, and watched Ms. Nakashima’s music videos when I was in London. The styling was done by Yasuhiro Watanabe, and was very cool. I thought that when I launched my own brand, I wanted Mika Nakashima to wear my clothes, and then, in a twist of fate, it happened! First, the stylist Yuko Omori saw my work in rooms and used it on the cover of "So-en". Then, I received a call from Yasuhiro Watanabe, who said he saw this cover. From this encounter, Yasuhiro Watanabe did the styling for my first runway show. Last year, Mika Nakashima wore a costume I designed, and I actually met her in person! I’ve also been able to cooperate with several other celebrities on their wardrobes. I designed the clothes that singer Ken Hirai wore in a commercial, and I created the outfit that singer Kumi Koda wore in the Kohaku Uta Gassen music show two years ago.
