Frankly speaking with Akira Isogawa

Jackie: You moved from Japan to Australia when you were 22. How did your parents take that?
Akira: My family wanted me to study and do the job that my father had, which was being a public servant. I never thought I was going abroad to anywhere. Then a friend told me he was going to Australia. Actually, quietly, because I was very shy, I thought it would have been nice but I never expressed it to anyone, definitely not my family because they would have been furious. So I kept my feeling all to myself for a while. I knew I had to deal with something big, which was dealing with my father.
When I told him I wanted to take a year off from studying [social welfare] at university, he said, “No”, and kept eating. Then he turned on the TV and started watching baseball. I raised it again a month later, but he didn’t listen. I decided not to bring it up anymore. There was no point. I just left a note.

Jackie: What did you say in the note?
Akira: I said I left. I was gone already, so he couldn’t do anything about it.

Jackie: But you didn’t speak a word of English!
Akira: It was basic, such as “Good evening” or “You’re welcome”. The travel agent had organised an English course and a homestay with an Australian family in [Sydney’s] Balmain. I ended up staying there for eight weeks.

Jackie: Australia wasn’t as multicultural in 1986 as it is today. How did you cope?
Akira: Sometimes ignorance can be a strength. You can be as brave as possible because you have no idea of the consequences. It was a brand-new country; I could do whatever I wanted. I had a sense of freedom. I felt positive.

Jackie: What was the most inspiring thing for you at that time?
Akira: Little things like going to the football with my host family and watching the game with a VB. My father in Japan took me to watch baseball, but he wasn’t drinking beers or yelling. We are all really well behaved, like a choir, watching the game. Here it’s different.

Jackie: I can’t imagine you screaming. Did you scream?
Akira: Yeah, yeah. I said, “Come on! Come on!”

Jackie: What were you wearing in those days?
Akira: I really liked those 1981/82 clothes with a lot of holes – not punk, necessarily, but a polished punk; something that Yohji [Yamamoto] might have done or Comme des Garçons. I remember in high school going to Comme des Garçons and seeing all the clothes with frayed edges and holes and layers of thin cotton voiles and things like that – not necessarily fitted, in fact a bit unstructured. I was inspired.

Jackie: When you design, what kind of woman do you see?
Akira: There are no definite types in terms of age group or body shape. Perhaps I think of what the personality is like – maybe they could be confident, not necessarily forceful; they could be introverted, but confident and strong.

Jackie: Isn’t that what your mother was?
Akira: Yeah, that’s true.

Jackie: You look surprised!
Akira: She came to Australia twice. [At the studio] I asked her if she wanted to try something on. She said, “No, it’s not for me.” I picked up the brightest red coat and she tried it on and said, “See, it’s not me.” She never wore what I designed. That’s why it surprised me that you said maybe I think about my mother, but it’s true. Unfortunately, she passed away without ever wearing my clothes. [Becomes tearful]

Jackie: Let’s go back to your childhood in Japan ...
Akira: Actually, I’m just feeling a bit emotional.

Jackie: She would have been so proud of you ...
Akira: Yeah, but generally speaking Japanese are not expressive, so you have to guess what they feel. I hope they felt proud because she never said so. When she passed away, at the funeral my father showed me all these press clippings she’d kept. I remember feeling really sad and I put them in her coffin so she could take them with her.

Jackie: When you started out as a designer, did you ever consider you wouldn’t be able to make a career of it? Did you have a back-up plan?
Akira: Less than six months after I opened my Woollahra [in Sydney] store in 1993, I realised I couldn’t pay the rent. I was a tour guide once in Sydney for Japanese tourists, so I asked my ex-boss if I could work there again. In fact, it was such a well-paid job, I was able to pay someone to work in the shop.

Jackie: When did you know you’d arrived as a designer?
Akira: Australian Fashion Week has a lot to do with my career really, starting from the New Generation Collection in 1996 with 15 outfits and all the girls in red socks. Showing a collection in front of hundreds and then appearing on the runway was a scary moment, but at the same time I felt “I’ve done it”.

Jackie: Yes, I remember that, because you didn’t have the money for shoes.
Akira: That’s right. I didn’t think about shoes until the last minute, and then I realised how many pairs I had to organise. It was impossible to be able to afford so many! So I thought, “At least socks colour the feet.”

Jackie: And we were all thinking, “Wow, this is great,” because it worked with your clothes. It was very strong in the styling, so it looked like you were being avant-garde.
Akira: Like intentional?

Jackie: Yeah! Speaking of colour, every time I see you you’re in black, yet your designs are very colourful.
Akira: When I started dressing others, I lost interest in dressing up myself, but I still like wearing nice things.

Jackie: In 2005 you appeared in a series of Australian Legends commemorative postage stamps. Did you send anyone a postcard with your face on it?
Akira: I sent one to my father, but I didn’t hear from him. I think he thought it was a fake, like you can make it to send yourself up. He didn’t even say, “Oh gosh, it’s amazing, congratulations.” He was a bit like, “What was that?”

Jackie: You’re one of a handful of Australian designers to reach an international market, so what’s kept you here in Australia?
Akira: I’ve had the opportunity to move elsewhere, Paris for example, but I want to remain based in Sydney. Australia gives you opportunity, to think that anything is possible, so why would you ever give that up?

Jackie: You are incredibly hardworking. What’s your idea of relaxation?
Akira: I think maybe when I fly. You might be in the air for more than 10 hours, so ...

Jackie: You need to get into an aircraft to relax, to switch off?
Akira: I went to see a movie and I think I felt relaxed afterwards.

Jackie: Are you telling me that work is your relaxation?
Akira: It kind of gives you an identity ... although I do enjoy a great movie.