That's a very kind introduction. Latex was a fetish fabric in the past and it still is now. It doesn’t make you warm like wool, doesn’t have a daily function like cotton. It’s a shiny second skin that is in some ways restrictive and feels very different on your skin. You need to use talcum powder or lubricant to wear it. You wear latex for your pleasure. When it's cut properly it will make you feel like a super woman but it's not necessarily for everyone. Though I think everyone should try it.
It's great that popstars want to wear Atsuko Kudo. They can add a special element and also make latex acessible to the world and hopefully it will give them extra edge and glamour in return. It's a happy collaboration.
I enjoyed every collaboration we did and hopefully every one of them had bit of AK in them. When we worked with Mugler for Nicola Formichetti's first Paris collection there I felt it like a special moment too. But each one has something unique. The one for Hussein Chalayan was the first one and he is a very amazing designer too so that had a particularly beautiful aesthetic.
We were very thrilled to find out it was so popular. It was very fun and inspiring to work with Nick Knight and the SHOWstudio team. It’s great to find out their audience enjoyed it as much as we did.
Yes. Fashion is vision and a message to show who you are and what you believe in. It can help to change the way people think and live.
London is such an exciting city. That’s why I came here all the way from Japan. I love the way that New and History mix together. So many creative people are here. Japan is almost one nation so it's very different but also amazing. But it’s inspiring to meet people from many different cultures and find out so many different way of thinking and doing things too.
I think in some ways now we have more opportunity to express our emotions now and in other ways they are more suppressed. Suppressed emotions mixed with joy are very powerful. Pain and Joy. It’s… Fetish.
Latex restrict you in just right amount. That's how it should be. It's a super shiny
fabric to take you to the place unordinary. So it's not restricting love as in limiting it. It can define love too.
You cannot rush with latex. Just take your time and enjoy. It was great to be given a platform of time. In the case of Dressing For Pleasure we had 4 hours to dress one beautiful girl in latex – how could we not enjoy that! With the Restricted Love show it was a challenge to persuade the production team that the models should walk so slowly for the first 3 or 4 looks. My partner and husband Simon Walter Hoare did a great job on mixing the music for the for both projects – which added to create the special feeling of time passing beautifully. When I design the clothes I want them to have time to breathe and to enjoy the sensual moment. Life is so quick in the modern world so it is nice to create moments, which are just for pleasure.




