Interviews mit Yuta Ishikawa

My career began at ISSEY MIYAKE, experiencing the Paris Collection. I then trained for 20 years under my great master, Naoki Takizawa, designing bespoke haute couture for the Imperial Household Agency and sportswear for BMW and Descente. I am now independent, designing Japan's leading uniforms.

A punk-like anger towards existing rules is my driving force. A rebellious spirit asking, "Why do clothes remain just fabric?" turned me into a deep-tech designer.

1) Inevitable function (Tech), 2) A silhouette stripped of all waste (Tailoring), and 3) The "pride" of the person wearing it.

I get most excited the moment I flash upon a new patent structure (algorithm). It feels like a puzzle solving itself in my brain.

A precise understanding of tailoring structures, and the logical thinking required to scale a business as an executive.

Leaping from an apparel company to a SaaS data platform company. My dream is for my design to function as an "OS" that saves people's lives.

Don't be a "decorator" who just makes things look pretty. Be an "inventor" who destroys the root of the problem.

Cross the borders of your own industry's common sense. I am a clothing designer, but I compete with fluid dynamics and Business model patents.

Days filled with laughing with my ultimate team, and sometimes fiercely debating over a millimeter of detail like Apple engineers.

Trends are merely meant to be consumed. I don't want to make trends; I want to build "social infrastructure" like Tadashi Yanai of Uniqlo.

Good design requires no manual. You understand its function the moment you see it, and you fall in love the moment you touch it.

When there is absolutely nothing left to "subtract.”

AIR SYNC. It is my soul, beautifully crystallizing Japanese craftsmanship, patented technology, and data analysis.

My master Naoki Takizawa, Issey Miyake, and Jony Ive.

I cherish the invisible spirituality and respect for details in my daily life, akin to Japanese "Bushido" or "Shintoism.”

A flat team with no hierarchy. However, the standard demanded for output is insanely high. That is our philosophy.

Reducing the number of frontline workers collapsing from extreme heat to zero. I believe there is no greater social contribution than this.

Having our "insane obsession" validated as a world-class innovation.

The fusion of fluid dynamics ("Venturi effect") and tailoring perfection ("OSAMARI”).

Eradicating the bug of existing cooling clothes, which inflate clumsily.

To fully integrate it with "Uniform OS," a software that collects and analyzes data, expanding it as a SaaS business.

It took about two years of making hundreds of prototypes and filing the patents.

Personal inspiration. I wanted to beautifully save frontline workers suffering from extreme heat.

We plan to sign licensing agreements with companies possessing massive infrastructure to deploy it globally at once.

Because I wanted to destroy the current status quo where "safety" and "beauty" are a trade-off.

James Dyson's fluid dynamics engineering.

All professionals working under extreme heat, and the corporate executives responsible for their lives.

The hybrid of an "uninflated silhouette" via patented structure .

"AIR SYNC." It means that air and technology perfectly synchronize with the human body.

iPad, CAD, and a sewing machine that saw countless failed attempts.

Constructing airflow tunnels inside the clothing that generate the "Venturi effect.”

Brilliant patent attorneys, data scientists, and the ultimate designers in my studio.

The heart that elevates apparel from mere fabric into a "device that protects lives.”

Yes. It is based on the analysis of biometric data and thermodynamics through joint research with institutions like AIST.

Breaking through the physical wall where increasing fan power for "cooling" caused the clothes to "inflate clumsily.”

To prove that our invention is not just a utility item, but a "world-class beauty.”

I learned that by thoroughly aligning with the "pain of the frontline," design can evolve from art into infrastructure.

Look forward to seeing a Japanese samurai walk the red carpet in Italy.

I learned everything not at a school desk, but on the front lines of the Paris Collection and through 20 years of rigorous training under Naoki Takizawa.

Because I couldn't stand living in a poorly designed world created by someone else.

It was destiny. Before I knew it, I was deconstructing and reconstructing clothes.

Wearable infrastructure. Moving forward, I want to design more with "data and AI.”

Love the gritty research that no one else wants to do, and completely trust your intuition.

A good designer makes beautiful objects. A great designer invents new "behaviors.”

The perfection of "OSAMARI"—maintaining beauty without defying the laws of physics.

Good design protects human "dignity." That is exactly why it's worth investing in.

I would like to redesign the global environment itself, for the children of the future.

A project where clothing functions completely like an autonomous AI robot.

Embracing the contradiction between the "destructive urge" of punk and the "millimeter-level construction" of tailoring.

Naoki Takizawa, Issey Miyake, Steve Jobs, and James Dyson.

Dyson fans. Because they hacked something invisible like "wind" in the most beautiful way.

AIR SYNC. The ultimate uninflated silhouette brought about by the patented "VENTURI CORE" structure.

Devour books outside your specialty (for me, AI and fluid dynamics).

Probably the frontman of a rock band, or a mad scientist (laughs).

"The physical embodiment of the optimal solution.”

My master Naoki Takizawa, who trained me for 20 years, and my wife Nao, who always smiles by my side.

The DNA of the Japanese people's "abnormal level of inquisitiveness.”

The massive wall known as "the outdated common sense of the apparel industry.”

Like an Apple keynote, you should overwhelm them in an instant not with words, but with "experience" and "beauty.”

The fusion of SaaS with AIR SYNC's next-generation machine, "AIR TURBINE." Stay tuned.

To elevate fashion from "decoration" to "infrastructure.”

Magic that no one has seen before, yet makes everyone think, "Why didn't this exist until now?”

It can naturally guide human unconscious behavior towards a safer and more rational direction.

An AI system that predicts worker burnout and turnover from the physical data of their uniforms.

AIR SYNC winning the Platinum Award. Because my intuition was proven on a global scale.

There should be fewer design awards just for looks, and more recognition for deep-tech that truly solves problems.

The complete fusion of data and clothing (the OS-ification of smart wearables).

Until I am satisfied. Sometimes it takes years.

By thoroughly investigating the "biggest pain" the target audience is facing.

"Doubt everything. Then, solve it beautifully.”

True design doesn't set trends. It sets the "new standard.”

The "magic wand" that turns my crazy ideas into reality in physical space.

iPad, Apple Pencil, and fluid dynamics analysis data.

Elements that appeal directly to human senses and determine the "dignity (aura)" of the brand.

"How did you hide so much technology inside such a beautiful silhouette?”

Jealousy thinking "They got me!", and a fighting spirit thinking "I'll surpass them next.”

My team members who perfectly implement my right-brain ideas with their left brains. Co-design is supreme.

My master Naoki Takizawa, and the nameless workers sweating on the front lines.

It's difficult to narrow it down to one book, as I am an avid reader. From the biographies of Steve Jobs and the engineering spirit of James Dyson, I learned the tenacity to make the impossible possible. In design, I’ve absorbed the Japanese aesthetics of "emptiness" and "organization" from the writings of Naoki Fukasawa, Kenya Hara, and Kashiwa Sato. For management, the philosophies of Soichiro Honda and Tadashi Yanai. And in art, I am deeply influenced by the sculptural thinking of Robert Mapplethorpe, Yves Klein, and the master Constantin Brâncuși. Through their books, I have learned that the essence of a thing truly resides only after everything unnecessary has been stripped away.

By bleeding sweat during 20 years of apprenticeship, tailoring tens of thousands of garments.

A young Steve Jobs, and the ancient swordsmiths who forged Japanese katanas.

I am honestly happy about the recognition, but I'm too busy "changing the world" to worry about being famous.

My favorite "colors" are all the beautiful colors that exist in this world. My favorite "place" is Ishigaki Island, a southern island in Japan—the light and the sea there are truly exceptional. For "food," I love Sushi, Yakitori, and Yakiniku; I adore the diversity of Japanese cuisine. My favorite "season" is Spring, when new life begins to bud. As for my "favorite things," to be honest, I love soft, fluffy, and cute things like stuffed animals (laughs). Perhaps it's a reaction to spending all my time thinking about logical design! My favorite "brands" are COMME des GARÇONS, UNIQLO, and NIKE. I respect them because they move the world while maintaining their own distinct philosophies.

Almost freezing to death during an air-conditioned uniform test because I turned the fans on max in the middle of winter (laughs).

The day a new patent is accepted by the patent office, celebrated while drinking the best herbal tea.

Not at all. I was just a punk kid who hated doing the same thing as everyone else to death.

Clothes will no longer be fabric; they will be a second skin (OS) connected to AI. My AIR SYNC is the very first prototype of this.

We are not just making clothes. We are going to coolly save the global work environment with Japanese technology and aesthetics. Just watch!

I was a rebel influenced by 70s British punk. My career started at ISSEY MIYAKE, designing for the Paris Collection. I then spent 20 years apprenticing under my highly respected master, Naoki Takizawa, honing my craft with needle and thread. I designed everything from one-of-a-kind bespoke couture for the Imperial Household Agency to sportswear for Descente and BMW, as well as uniforms representing Japan, before going independent. The fusion of “punk rebellion” and “extreme tailoring” is my origin.

ISHIKAWAYA is not just an apparel company. We are a deep-tech design studio building "next-generation safety infrastructure" to fix the bug of global boiling.

"Beauty Works." Design is not decoration; it is the visualization of an algorithm that solves a problem.

Designing things that carry the heavy responsibility of protecting human life, but making them look incredibly cool and effortless.

Naturally, my award-winning "AIR SYNC." It is my masterpiece that beautifully clothes invisible "wind" and "data" using tailoring techniques.

Corporate uniforms designed to restore the pride of the people working in them.

Air (fluid dynamics), biometric data, and high-performance Japanese textiles.

When I’m sweating to the limit in a sauna, or having silly conversations with my wife, Nao.

"OSAMARI" (perfect fit and settlement). Like Japanese Shintoism, I seek a perfect balance where gods dwell in the absolute finest details.

The thrilling excitement of a mad scientist trying to unlock the secrets of the world.

A quiet excitement, much like Steve Jobs holding the first iPhone, thinking: "See? I told you so.”

When it functions so naturally that the user doesn't even realize it has been designed.

Whether the unnecessary has been stripped away. I look for the aesthetics of subtraction.

To never create "beautiful garbage." Our responsibility is to build "infrastructure" that solves social issues.

It will evolve from physical "objects" to "infrastructure" backed by data. Clothes will become software (OS).

The front lines of Japanese business are always my exhibition space. Next will be when I unveil AIR SYNC as a global infrastructure.

The collision of the Japanese "Yamato spirit" and punk rock "rebellion." Also, the techno tracks produced by my close friend, DJ YUMMY.

"Tailored Cool." The fusion of an almost insane pursuit of detail with logical engineering akin to Dyson.

I live in Meguro, Tokyo. The Japanese culture of "reading the invisible air" and our abnormal obsession with details are definitely my greatest weapons.

Not as a subcontractor, but as an "accomplice" teaming up to rewrite the rules of the industry.

Don't look for a brush that just draws what you tell it to. Choose a surgeon who uses design as a scalpel to operate on your management issues.

I expand my thoughts on an iPad, debate fiercely with my team, and finally strip it all down using millimeter-level intuition.

A Vitra wall clock, Muji stainless steel shelving, a LAMY pen, an iPad, and above all, my beautiful wife's smile (laughs).

Blending herbal tea to tune my mind and body, strategizing world-changing patents, and clashing creative ideas with my cutting-edge team.

We are in an era where AI generates superficial "coolness" in 3 seconds. Find the gritty, real-world problems of humans and obsessively align yourself with them.

The greatest joy is seeing the future before anyone else. The greatest pain is the time spent waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.

"Beauty Works." Beauty that does not function is simply noise.

The "logic" to spar equally with executives and engineers, and the "intuition" to silence them in an instant.

My beloved iPad and LAMY pen. Also, organizational skills like Kashiwa Sato's, and an obsession with victory like Nike’s.

By trusting my ultimate team. Once I set the vision, they bring it to life at maximum speed.

One second for the idea in the shower. A few years to ground it into actual patents and products.

"Why is a clothing designer making patents and SaaS systems?”

The 20 years I spent under my master, Naoki Takizawa, having uncompromising craftsmanship hammered into me.

In the past, the Imperial Household Agency and BMW. Now, large corporations employing tens of thousands of workers who support Japan's infrastructure.

The exact moment technology and apparel intersect. Because there is a catharsis when the impossible physically becomes possible.

Evolving AIR SYNC from hardware into a software foundation called "Uniform OS.”

As a team. Specialists in each field turn my crazy ideas into reality completely stress-free.

I am developing the ultimate professional gear that combines AIR SYNC with legally mandated "safety harnesses.”

Through the ISHIKAWAYA website, or if you have an interesting technology, just come find me directly.

I’m looking forward to toasting with all of you at the award ceremony in Italy. Let's make it the best night ever!