When I was a kid in my hometown Kochi in Japan. When I was swimming in the river and I felt the wild water flow which gave me an image of how to wear an avant-garde outfit around my body. Konishi’s work explores the Avant-garde in a manner that serves the culture of inclusivity with empowerment and recognition, The recognition that is the need of now and the coming future.

How was life growing up being creative/ and as an individual?

Very impressive, fun and I feel so responsible. I am lucky to be who I am, now as a creative and to be an artist for my living. I appreciate every single one of the people who support my creative life.

What intentions and inspirations drive you to create and articulate the craftsmanship that you do & What role does innovation of technology play in your designing?

When I create something, I am inspired by things surrounding me in daily life. I admire so many innovations that support our life and also traditional craftsmanship to our life which has led us to our recent lifestyles. I always enjoy this hybrid creative and my creation is also about combining these. I love to make very futuristic innovative creations to express my own vision of our future at the same time, I also love to create something with traditional craftsmanship to respect our ancestors. And my creative skill is also mixing different materials, cultures, and emotions, so hybrid all is also one of my main creative methods.

Your work is avant-garde, commercial, pop, punk, and much more with a post-modernist / contemporary style, how do you view your work in relation to the market at times? Please tell us about the importance of culture and community that helps you to explore various other creative avenues.

I would say I am a researcher, challenger, and also realistic person. All of the things I do should be challenging and at the same time must be realistic for society to survive. I dream a lot, but I do not make things just based on my dreamy desires. That is the reason why I study a lot and do deep research about many things, I truly believe making avant-garde pieces is as necessary to me as breathing and it helps some people in this world. So, whatever I do, I need reasons and I always study and find one.

Konishi, Let’s start with discussing your relationship with materials and conceptualizations. Please take us through your mental space as a designer, as your medium of expression.

When I think of materials and concepts, I am feeling and think about life and death. Materials are frequently an entity’s death for me and my creation is about how to respect its death and give new life to it. Creating something is like creating my own worship around our life and especially our bodies.

It's evident you are inclusive, do you recall any particular moment or phase that in your eyes was a pivotal period for you and your work, considering you work within multiple directions now?

Oh, thank you…!! I very much appreciate you see value in me.
I have a couple of moments that are important for my creation. One is definitely when I was a kid in my hometown Kochi in Japan. When I was swimming in the river and I felt the wild water flow which gave me an image of how to wear an avant-garde outfit around my body. My creation is always challenging how to create invisible things as visible, intangible things as tangible as wearable art. Another moment was important for my creation was that when I realized I just love people more than anything. So whenever I make things, I focus on what other people think and feel. This is the reason why I take multiple directions for my creation to understand people’s diversity and be able to communicate.

What role does being from Japan and working in New York, play in your visualization? & How do the demographics and cultural environment of both east and west influence your themes and visions?

As a Japanese person who was both grown and raised in Japan and now living in NY as an artist, my creation is really inspired by the environment where I am and who I live with. My biggest inspirations are always Nature and Human society. And living in different countries is stimulating me to be very colorful and thoughtful as an artist expressing the various influences I have actually experienced in my work. That’s why people see my work as kind of random and different for each moment but is simply because I am also being changed and improved by my lifestyle in such a unique environment.

Talking about the journey you have gone through, that is to say, experimentations and creative explorations, What challenges do you go through in terms of launching a collection and of course the creation of it?

I have a lot to say about answering this question. But long story short, I went to three fashion schools in different countries, so I have learned so many different skills and knowledge in my life. And these experiences offer me my own way of creating my work.

I wonder who and what inspires your artistry that fashion includes and is surrounded by.

Alexander McQueen is forever my inspiration. And the Nature that surrounds me.

Can you please describe the ambiance you work in? The interiors or music for that matter?

I work at the studio where many different artists work, so I socialize and get inspiration from them. And it has both nature and animals, as well as, always someone with whom I can talk and communicate. I also play the music that is owned by those I work for. I mean, my clients’ music is very much used.

Last, but not least, What are you working on currently? What is your inspiration and what insights you can reveal about that?

I am currently working on directing more than actually making things, and using my brain to think about new projects. Right now, a lot more thinking than hand work. Especially when I work on Fashion education and sustainability in Fashion and technologies. I think this is the time for me to use my knowledge to collaborate with different fields and design something bigger than just dresses.