Maiko Kurogouchi

Maiko Kurogouchi is the designer behind the womenswear label Mame Kurogouchi. Born in Nagano prefecture, Kurogouchi graduated from Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College and cut her teeth at Issey Miyake before launching her namesake label in 2011, replacing her first name with her nickname Mame. Since then, she has carved out a niche for herself by modernising Japanese craft techniques and applying them to intricate feminine silhouettes. Travelling around the country to gather inspiration from regional landscapes and harness the endangered skills of master artisans, she produces collections informed by kimono textiles, early imari pottery and bamboo basket weaving, giving local heritage crafts a global platform.

In 2017, Kurogouchi was awarded the Fashion Prize of Tokyo and made her debut at Paris Fashion Week. In 2021, she launched the first of several collaborations with Uniqlo, which have seen her reinterpret the mass market giant’s knit technology through seasonal lingerie and loungewear capsules. By 2024, she had built a vast wholesale business across dozens of Japanese cities and key international markets to supplement sales from her mono-brand store network in Tokyo.