Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
A primal beauty in nature, desiring not only to wear it but to become a part of it: Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Yuima Nakazato’s Message for this collection – Throughout history and across all cultures, humans have drawn inspiration from nature—plants and animals alike—to create patterns and forms for clothing. Essentially, this is because humans have always seen a primal beauty in nature, wanting not only to wear it but to become part of it.
Come to think of it, the very first garment I designed as a high school student was inspired by tree rings. In pursuit of the origins of clothing and my own identity, I decided to visit Yakushima, an island in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, where ancient Yakusugi cedar trees have lived for thousands of years.
Yuima Nakazato – Photo of Yakushima taken by Nakazato and work scene at the atelier.
Credit Yuima Nakazato
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
In a landscape devoid of anything man-made, I touched the streamlined stones carved by river currents and the tree rings of driftwood under the moonlight. As I reflected on the immense span of time that transcends human intellect, a desire began to grow within me to replicate these forms with my own hands. This experience became the inspiration for this collection.
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
During the six-month production period, I continuously sought ways to recreate the scenery I witnessed on Yakushima. I personally spent over 1,500 hours working with clay. As I crafted thousands of ceramic pieces, my fingers gradually learned the movement of the earth, and streamlined shapes began to emerge naturally from my hands. The sensation of losing track of time, of body and clay becoming one as forms came into being, felt very close to the experience I had on Yakushima—of being immersed in the vast flow of time and existing as part of an ecosystem.
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
By using EPSON’s digitally output transparent ink on fabric, YUIMA NAKAZATO discovered that natural fibre fabrics do not fray when cut. This combines the delicate texture of natural silk with a sharp visual aesthetic created by the raw, unhemmed edges, resulting in an unprecedented form of expression. While ink is traditionally used to print patterns and create visual designs, we intentionally chose transparent ink to highlight a new expression of silk. Although the transparent ink is invisible to the eye, its presence is certain, making this new vision for the dress a reality.
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Finally, Yuima Nakazato chose not to add music to this show. More precisely, there *is* sound: the resonance produced when garments made of ceramic sway and move. It might be described as the sound of the earth itself, as if awakening memories from when the soil first came into being on this planet.
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
In an environment filled with electronic sounds streaming through headphones and illuminated by screens, constantly absorbing information, attendees were invited during the fifteen minutes of this fashion show to focus on the subtle, unstable sounds produced by the garments before them and the breath of the bodies wearing them. “I would be honored if the landscape I experienced in the silence of Yakushima could be shared with you through these garments” said Yuima Nakazato.
Yuima Nakazato Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Collection
Credit Mika Inoue
Born in 1985, Nakazato graduated from the Fashion Department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2008. In July 2016, he was chosen as one of the official guest designers for Haute Couture Week, and he remains the only representative from Japan to this day. In 2024, the Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode in Calais, France, hosted the brand’s first solo exhibition, “YUIMA NAKAZATO Beyond Couture.”
Yuima Nakazato at his Spring/Summer Couture 2026 – Silent Show
Credit Mika Inoue
Since 2022, Nakazato has been collaborating with choreographers and theater directors to design costumes for opera and ballet productions across the U.S. and Europe, including the Boston Ballet and the Geneva National Theatre. Additionally, Nakazato is a founder of the FASHION FRONTIER PROGRAM, which offers educational initiatives for emerging designers focused on social responsibility and environmental issues in fashion.
