FRILL SEEKER

Tomo Koizumi makes his own rules. Meet the Japanese designer behind the ruffles and rainbow hues. 

- Jeffrey Yan

The story of Tomo Koizumi reads like a fashion fairytale. Toiling away creating stage costumes, unknown outside of his native Tokyo; one day, he was discovered by super-stylist Katie Grand through Instagram. In this story, Grand is the fairy godmother-she whisked him away to New York and enlisted her A-lister friends to help Koizumi put on his first Fashion Week show.

It was staged in Marc Jacobs' Madison Avenue store, and where the likes of Gwendoline Christie, Joan Smalls and Emily Ratajkowski walked. That was in 2019 and since then, Koizumi's star has only been on the rise. He has dressed Bjork, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Sam Smith and Lil Nas X in his extravagantly ruffled and exuberantly coloured gowns. His work has been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and shown as part of its Costume Institute's "Camp: Notes on Fashion" exhibition. There have been collaborations with Sacai and Emilio Pucci, and he has caught the eye of Dolce&Gabbana, who supported his fall/winter 2023 show with logistical and creative resources.