Auralee is one of the coolest Japanese fashion labels. Meet the designer behind it, Ryota Iwai
- Known for bridging fluid, ultra-wearable silhouettes with meticulously considered textiles in creative colours, Ryota Iwai lets his clothes speak for themselves
- He talks about running a slow fashion brand in a world used to instant gratification, Japan’s changing fashion industry, and why he doesn’t rely on influencers
In an industry driven by aspiration and egos, the prototypical fashion designer is often a larger-than-life figure. But Ryota Iwai, the man behind buzzy Japanese slow fashion label Auralee, is anything but.
The graduate of Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College founded Auralee in 2015 and it has quietly become one of Japan’s coolest labels.
Known for bridging fluid, ultra-wearable silhouettes with meticulously considered textiles in creative colour palettes, Iwai prefers to let his clothes speak for themselves.
Nonetheless, he sat down with the Post in Tokyo to discuss running a slow fashion brand in a world used to instant gratification.
How would you describe your design process?
What’s unique about our brand is that we make everything from scratch, so every collection starts with developing the fabrics first. As far as a routine, that’s it.
