Q&a / How luxury brand Anteprima brought Japanese art to Milan Fashion Week
Founder Izumi Ogino and artist Takahiro Iwasaki on their approach to bridging fashion and art while retaining the essence of their culture
We recently caught up with Ogino and Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasaki, who collaborated with Anteprima for its spring/summer 2026 collection, in Hong Kong to talk more about their approach to fashion as art, and what makes their collaboration a true fusion of cultures and creative disciplines.
What it was like working on this latest collection together?
Izumi Ogino: I get new and fresh inspiration from [all] the artists I collaborate with.
Takahiro Iwasaki (through a translator): It was my first time doing a fashion collaboration, so everything was very refreshing. We have been working with used, vintage clothing, so it was a new experience to work from scratch.
The newest version of Anteprima’s signature wire bag is so fun. What was it like reinventing such a popular product, making it fresh for this collection?
Ogino: Of course, I got the inspiration from [Iwasaki] and he [uses] daily products to make another amazing, outstanding world. So we also made some bags using the beads to create a tower or a building, following his art concept. His artwork [features] a lot of reflection, so we created a reflection bag, also.
Iwasaki’s work plays with reflection both literally and figuratively. I loved the pieces where you have a shirt, but it operates as a skirt, and it’s very modular. Did you encounter any challenges translating art into fashion, something different from what you normally do?