Consciousness of Anrealage

Designer Kunihiko Morinaga was born in Tokyo in 1980. While attending Waseda University, where he studied social sciences, he started taking fashion design classes at the Vantan Design Institute. In 2003, he launched his brand “ANREALAGE” – a name that combines the words “REAL”, “UNREAL” and “AGE”. After presenting collections in Tokyo, he began showing at Paris Fashion Week in 2014. In 2019, he was selected as finalist for the LVMH Prize in France, and won the 37th Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix that same year. In 2020, ANREALAGE presented a collaboration collection with Fendi for Milano Fashion Week. His official uniforms for Expo 2020 Dubai will debut this year.

What does sustainability mean to you?

It’s my source of creation.

Why does sustainability matter to you?

In the Covid-19 era, I think we need a fashion to nurture, not fashion to consume.

Why do you think we are only giving more attention to sustainability now?

The feeling of returning to nature is increasing and I feel it stronger in this pandemic situation.

How has your approach to sustainability has evolved in the past year?

Instead of making things physically, I started to make things virtually using 3D software. As a result, the [[need for]] prototypes is reduced.

How do you remain engaged or environmentally aware in your personal life?

I’m using eco-bags for my brand, and for any shopping, for example.

How can we produce more responsibly?

I have become very conscious of who makes things and whom they will reach. I think that’s what you do yourself.

How can we consume more responsibly?

I think It is important to think about the cycle of fashion, rather than judging it by quality, newness, or appearance.

How might sustainable materials and fabrics influence or direct future fashion design?

I think that a sustainable environment will create a more appropriate way of creation, especially while limited resources are decreasing.

Does ‘sustainable fashion’ have an aesthetic and is this changing? 

Yes, I feel there is an aesthetic in things that changes. Although the flowers bloom and wither, I feel the beauty of the cycle and the blooming of flowers.

In what ways have you seen the industry already improving?

I don’t know if the results are yet visible, but the consciousness of people in the fashion industry has definitely changed.

In what ways could the industry be doing better?

I think it is good that the speed of the fashion industry is slowing down and the speed of mass consumption and mass production are slowing down as well.

Who are your sustainability role models?

Martin Margiela

What is one change in practice that you are proud to share?

My Biodegradation garment.

What is one change in practice that you would like to make?

I use to made a garments that changes colour with the sunlight, but I also want to make a garment that coexists with nature, such as wind and soil.

What is one change all of us could be doing right now?

Thinking about the garments you wear today – who made them, where they came from.

What gives you hope right now?

It is our hope that we have moved from an era when things were overflowing to an era where the value of each item has become important.