Hideo Yoshii / Souta Yamaguchi
HIDESIGN is an experimental brand launched in 2022 that aims to elevate the technologies and methods cultivated by Hidesign Corporation, a company that specializes in corporate uniforms, into the realm of fashion. The brand’s wearable collections, born out of a focus on functionality designed to withstand extreme conditions, have garnered attention both domestically and internationally. During the fast-approaching Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO 2025AW, HIDESIGN will showcase its latest collection in an installation-style presentation on March 21. We spoke to chief designer Hideo Yoshii and brand director Souta Yamaguchi about recent developments at HIDESIGN.
HIDESIGN participated in Rakuten Fashion Week for the first time during the 23SS season. Two and a half years have passed since then—can you tell us about your current approach to designing and producing clothes?
Yoshii: The design team at HIDESIGN thinks like a uniform maker, approaching the selection of materials and the design of forms by considering the kinds of environments where such clothes will be worn. These designs are then melded with the creative direction of Yamaguchi—this is how HIDESIGN comes to life as a fashion brand. My sense is that through this collaboration with Yamaguchi, our process has become increasingly unique and interesting.
Yamaguchi: I define work uniforms as garments that are created in response to the relationship between the expected environment and the human body. This understanding guides me as I consider what sorts of environments and physical characteristics HIDESIGN should engage with and address in the present moment, and this is how I propose a concept or theme for the season. Yoshii’s design team then drafts designs based on the theme, and after multiple rounds of adjustments to the data and patterns, we produce toiles, or prototypes, that go through several stages of refinement before finally arriving at the finished products. When refining the designs, we place more importance on conveying the brand’s essence rather than a marketing perspective.
In your view, Yamaguchi, what makes HIDESIGN the brand that it is?
Yamaguchi: Conventional fashion brands typically begin their design process from the outside—say, a particular shape or color, or maybe a style that is trendy in the moment. At HIDESIGN, we approach our garments structurally, from the inside out. For the 25AW collection, we focused on the relationship between “temperature” and “material.” I think the fact that our garments have been designed as devices that can enhance this relationship, undergoing many tests until our goal metrics are met, is what makes them uniquely HIDESIGN.
How has the market responded to this distinctive approach?
Yoshii: We participated in PITTI UOMO this January for the first time, where we received interest from major stores and showrooms with global presences, so it seems that our work is reaching an international audience and gaining traction. We held an installation at PITTI as well, presenting our philosophy and approach to making both through visual displays and with models. People were especially excited and surprised to witness our clothing transform before their eyes.
Yamaguchi: We received very positive feedback from buyers, with some renowned buyers spending an extended period of time trying on our pieces. On the other hand, we have not yet been able to establish a stable supply chain for the products we developed and presented there. This is an issue we need to address—we must work on creating a system that allows for smoother growth of the wholesale business.
Yoshii: The kinds of clothes we want to make involve many new challenges, and so their development can take a long time. The question of how to present HIDESIGN’s collections every six months, in line with the cycle of the fashion industry, is one we are currently still working to answer.
Yamaguchi: I think of our collections as presenting something like a concept model. On the one hand, as a uniform company, we produce uniforms for tens and hundreds of thousands of people, yet we are also looking to bridge this with the realm of fashion—the creation of something one-of-a-kind. Though we call them “collections,” ideally, our designs will reach end-users—that is, fashion lovers—as something like the synthesis of our research and exploration. From a business perspective, we don’t plan to pursue large-scale wholesale immediately; we would like to sell through specific vendors we can form partnerships with, in addition to our own e-commerce site that we plan to launch around August.
Can you tell us more about the theme of the 25AW collection you will be presenting soon?
Yoshii: The concept is “All Zone”—it is a vision for fashion that can adapt to the changes in temperature that will accompany climate change. The collection focuses on how a single piece of clothing can accommodate both the heat and the cold to maintain the wearer’s comfort. More specifically, these garments can adapt to temperatures ranging from -20 to 40°C and have been engineered with particular focus on the structural components that directly touch skin.
Yamaguchi: In anticipation of a future where temperatures over 40°C become the norm, we focused on incorporating fans, increasingly seen as a key topic for the work uniform industry, in our designs. We are working to develop clothes that are comfortable and cooling by considering factors like the surface between the fabric and the skin, or by minimizing the number of points where the material and skin directly touch in order to optimize the airflow created by a fan. Clothing equipped with fans is gradually emerging in the fashion market, but most are simply garments with fans attached. In terms of their actual functionality, they fall far short of our standards.
Personally, I’m interested in creating clothes that look just like other clothes but in fact conceal an entirely different function, an entirely different value. Fashion depends too much purely on the visual—this is at the root of many discrepancies. For example, the clothes that young people work so hard to buy—the clothes they think are cool—have often been and seem to remain quite uncomfortable or difficult to wear. However, this is often an intentional, core aspect of the brand’s identity; rather, the designs quite simply stand to be improved. HIDESIGN is interested not only in the visual aspects of design but also in the elements of wonder and ease that are possible through actual use.
HIDESIGN 2025 S/S collection
How many pieces do you present each season?
Yamaguchi: Roughly 4 or 5 jackets, 3 to 4 vests, and 7 to 8 bottoms. Our collections do not aim for constant newness. Instead, each season is a kind of “updating” of the brand’s foundation. The brand started out with the color gray. Now, we are in a blue phase. The word “blue collar” refers to those who do physical work, but in our collection, blue is also inspired by the ocean and the sky. One of the major goals of this phase is to focus on the physical form of the body. Currently, our offerings are geared primarily toward men, but I’d like to develop more garments for women moving forward.
Can you tell us about the installation you will present on March 21?
Yamaguchi: For HIDESIGN, shows and presentations are an opportunity to share the fruits of our daily research and development. I hope it will be a chance to communicate the value of the features and elements of work uniforms that have been refined over time.
Yoshii: When we presented our collection at PITTI, people who tried on the clothes shouted out, “That’s crazy!” They were amazed by the comfort and functionality, and their faces lit up with smiles. We will be introducing clothes that have brought people so much joy—clothes unlike anything they had experienced before. I would be delighted for as many people as possible to see them.
Photography by Yohei Goto
Interview by Tomoko Kawasaki
Design group specializing in uniforms for corporations.
Possess human resources and facility necessary to comprehensively complete production within the company, from designing, pattern making, cutting to sewing.
Born in 1982, at Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture. Graduated from Bunka Fashion College (award-winner of the 22nd School President Award).
Started working as a stylist / fashion director in 2006.
HIDESIGN
[ Website ] https://www.hidesign-tokyo.com/
Souta Yamaguchi
[ Website ] https://souta-yamaguchi.com/
