Courtesy: AKI
For Japanese designer AKI, fashion has always been about individuality. Born in Osaka, the designer has built a career around combining Japanese textile traditions with international fashion influences, creating pieces that are made with intention rather than mass production.
That vision has now arrived in Los Angeles.
On August 28, 2026, Los Angeles-based Japanese fashion stylist Kazue Mizushima launched CURATED COLLECTION BY KAZUE at BaileyWick, the boutique inside The London West Hollywood. The curated selection introduces a number of distinctive fashion pieces to the LA market, including AKI, which made its official Los Angeles debut through the collection.
AKI’s approach to fashion begins with craftsmanship. The designer creates original interpretations of traditional Japanese textile patterns such as Enso, Shippo, and Sayagata, developing her own color combinations and commissioning them as unique woven textiles.
The brand also works with surplus and deadstock fabrics, giving existing materials a new life through custom-made fashion. Rather than producing large quantities of ready-to-wear clothing, AKI creates pieces after receiving customer orders, allowing greater attention to detail and a more personal relationship between the garment and the person wearing it.
It is a philosophy shaped by an international fashion journey.
After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Kansai University, AKI was inspired by Yohji Yamamoto and moved to Italy. She studied Fashion Design at the Instituto Marangoni in Milan before returning to Japan, where she worked at YOHJI YAMAMOTO FEMME and later began creating women’s made-to-order clothing.
Her exploration of tailoring continued in Palermo, Sicily, where she studied traditional men’s tailoring techniques and began creating custom gilets. In 2015, she presented a collection in Milan as part of JAÀ Studio, an Asian designer collective bringing together Korean, Taiwanese, and Japanese designers.
In 2022, AKI opened an atelier and store in Osaka, continuing to develop a design philosophy centered around self-expression and the individual.
For Kazue Mizushima, who worked for many years as a fashion stylist in Tokyo before establishing herself in Los Angeles, AKI represents a particularly meaningful connection between Japanese craftsmanship and LA’s creative culture. Her work today spans celebrity styling, editorials, brand campaigns, and creative direction, giving her a unique perspective on how Japanese design can translate into the international fashion landscape.
AKI’s distinctive bow ties are one example of that cross-cultural appeal, bringing traditional Japanese textiles into modern settings such as red carpets and global events. Each piece becomes a small statement of craftsmanship, individuality, and cultural heritage.
The LA launch also coincided with the opening of the BaileyWick gallery, featuring the SMILEY exhibition. Together, the boutique and gallery created a meeting point for fashion, art, media, and the city’s Japanese and international creative communities.
For those in Los Angeles looking to discover AKI’s work, the brand is now available for purchase at BaileyWick inside The London West Hollywood.
AKI‘s philosophy is ultimately about using fashion as a tool for self-expression, creating clothing that focuses on the individual and imagining a future where craftsmanship, creativity, and conscious production can exist together.
