Yudai Ono, Speaks about the dichotomy of what it is to be a creative being and a designer that not only feeds his mind but also invites others to find their own amidst such oppression. “My mental pain was based on a discourse based on distorted aesthetics, such as ‘fashion designers cannot express their own style and cannot understand the goodness’.”

“If we improve our aesthetics and have high expressiveness, we can express various strengths and styles” and “Avant-garde garments must include basic style elements,”Says Yudai Ono on his angst on what mass consumerism does to mind. He continues. “ I think that the performance-based evaluation axis of the current environment concentrates only on the visible and easy-to-understand surface layer, There are not many habits such as lateral thinking that consider the action of each element that leads to the next, and seeing the deeper part of things “

Yudai, Do you like, read or write poems?

Yes, I especially like reading Japanese poems ( Waka ). Because they are constructed based on sensations, they harbor an imagination that is the complete opposite of today's visible material society.

You have been esoteric with your approach, It's an anti-generic mode of conduct. I wonder about your relationship with the supernatural or the belief in the ethereal. How was life growing up from the perspective of a spiritual being?

I have no religion but I do believe that We are living in a simulation and that the Akashic Records exist. And in today's world, where science is the benchmark, I have believed in unscientific elements that cannot be proven by science, and have lived believing that they are the elements that create a unique difference in life. In fact, I saw spiritual things that could not be explained by the symptoms of schizophrenia, had an out-of-body experience, and experienced various things as an astral body.

What intentions and inspirations drive you to create and articulate the craftsmanship that you do, As I studied about you earlier I want to know how much of your passion comes from pain.

One of the main purposes of my creative activities is to change the current fashion design, which has strong elements of capitalism and push fashion design into the realm of art. I think that current fashion design serves a purpose like a business tool that is used to satisfy human desires, and in the current environment, there is no need for elements of excessive expression in fashion design. I have the impression that it is only in the frame of one entertainment. And I think there are environments where imitation is the norm, and there are environments where mass production is the mainstream and sustainability is not considered.
These environments create a distorted aesthetic, and I feel that fashion design has less expressive power than other fields such as fine art and that it leads to a decline in overall aesthetics. There was an experience of being oppressed as my mental pain was based on a discourse based on distorted aesthetics, such as “fashion designers cannot express their own style and cannot understand the goodness”. For example, a person who has a monochrome style cannot use color, and a person who has a style with a form such as a three-dimensional sculpture cannot express a style that is simple/basic, etc. These are the things I have always been told, and when the evaluation axis is an authoritarian environment, if I say, “If we improve our aesthetics and have high expressiveness, we can express various strengths and styles” and “Avant-garde garments must include basic style elements,'' but the current environment doesn’t accept because I have not made basic items. (In the collaboration with a Japanese brand rurumu: , I made the items in a short period of one week, using many colors, in the expression field of shoes which is not fashion design, because I wanted to secure the intention of these proofs.)
I think that the performance-based evaluation axis of the current environment concentrates only on the visible and easy-to-understand surface layer, There are not many habits such as lateral thinking that consider the action of each element that leads to the next, and seeing the deep part of things. And it is connected to the modern nature that thinking does not progress without a sense of security from the outside rather than the credibility of one's own evaluation.I think that it is clear that various styles and methods of expression can be made from the viewpoint of expression strength if we have the expressiveness and aesthetic eye that we should have.

What role does being from Japan and working in London play in your conceptualization? & How do the demographics and fiction of both east and west influence your themes and visions?

The reason I came to London is to be mentally free. In Japan, there was peer pressure and a seniority system, and there was a fairly strong element of authoritarianism, and my thoughts and actions were always suppressed. However, in London, diversity, and freedom are always applied, and I think there is a very conducive environment for artists. In the current environment in Japan, fashion designers seem to have a unique style, but in fact, I have the impression that people who are good at adding elements are evaluated and have authority. Fashion design has a strong capitalist aspect, so people who can add up throw away their pride, add trendy elements, get funds, and survive with fake-like expressions, And there is a structure in which those who truly have the potential to expand the possibilities of a fashion design end up on the side of the weak and disappear without receiving any support, and there is a structure in which the field of fashion design will never grow. As a breakthrough, I have engaged with people from both the East and the West, and have engaged in the cultural thinking and activities that accompany it. Working in London has been a great source of inspiration for me to create a chemical reaction between these two sides, and it has been a great help in my challenge to fashion design.

Avant-garde, that is to say, experimentation and conceptually artistic, What challenges do you go through in terms of launching a collection and of course the creation of it?

What I am trying to challenge in setting up my collection and brand is to present my work in ways other than the existing evaluation criteria. As an existing style of fashion design, Creating dozens of clothes each season have possibilities due to the existing evaluation axis in the context of capitalism, individual brands may be significantly inferior to Maison brands in terms of capital strength or maybe cheaply imitated. If that happens, the competition will be based on capital rather than individual ability, and it will become a target of exploitation. So, I'm thinking of presenting my work in a way other than this evaluation axis, and I think that it will lead to the individual ability that can compete with capitalism and differentiate it, and I can compete on a new evaluation axis. I think the way to do that is to have a strong brand style with a high degree of expressiveness. For that reason, it is necessary to have a format in which you can present your work while constantly developing your own abilities. For example, by creating avant-garde works, which is the current style, and expressing more advanced and bold expressions than existing fashion designs, I think that I can increase the strength of my own expression and constantly improve my abilities. If I could increase the intensity of my expressiveness, I would be able to create a variety of works from minor changes that are basic garments to avant-garde works so that the chef can control the taste of the food from delicious to not-so-delicious. Also, if I achieve advanced expressions, even if someone imitates them, the imitated side will be backward compatible. So, basically, I want to create avant-garde works, and along with that, I want to create garments that I can wear in my daily life, and present my works in a style that can be worn by various people. (In fact, all the clothes I wear are made by myself, and as a result of controlling the intensity of my expressiveness, I wear what I like.)

You did mention earlier that you are inspired by Rei Kuwakubo, I wonder who else plays an important role in the way you think about fashion design and the artistry it includes and is surrounded by.

To be honest, I always judge good or bad from the perspective of expression strength in the fashion design field. and I'm afraid that honestly, there are no existing people who play an important role. I'm inspired by Rei Kawakubo, but that's just the philosophical part, and I think there are some people who make better works than Comme des Garçons in terms of expressive strength.I don't have a specific person, but I am widely influenced by people of the same generation, and because the history of fashion design is short and constantly updated, I believe that the current new generation is the most cutting-edge expression. Also, in relation to the perspective of expressiveness intensity, art fields other than fashion design often have higher expressiveness intensity than fashion design, which has physical restrictions, so I am mainly influenced by them.

I wonder what goes into the creative process for you and your studio. Can you please describe the ambiance you work in? The interiors or music for that matter?

My studio is as white and unified as possible, and I try to remove information such as colors and shapes that get in the way of my creation. However, in the interior, there are colorful Japanese robot plastic models, anime figures, fine art photo collections, etc, which are likened to virtual white cubes. I locate the advanced expressions that do not exist in fashion design and that are always visible. As for music, I basically listen to experimental music and environmental music, and other than that, I listen to lectures in art fields other than fashion design and philosophical lectures as if they were on the radio. By doing this, I hope that I will constantly put a burden on my thinking, break down the brain's filter due to human homeostasis with external stimuli and the awareness of trying to change it, and lead to the possibility of connecting to ideas. For example, until just a little while ago, I was working while listening to a lecture on human free will and determinism based on it.

Your work is very much of a storytelling with a co-related and contemporary medium, how do you view your work in relation to the market at times? What kind of challenges do you get to work through?

In today's capitalist-based market, I feel that there is no need for works that include cutting-edge expressions and avant-garde elements like mine. however, I aim to expand the possibilities of fashion design expression in the history of fashion design with the aim of cutting-edge expression. I am working in a way that is contrary to the current environment, which is dominated by authoritarianism. The purpose is to improve the expressiveness of my own fashion design by incorporating advanced expressions that do not exist in fashion design. And because the authoritarian evaluation axis is ahead, I think that I have to acquire a higher level of ability. I think that high-level expressiveness and original style will become important as a way for small creators to compete with the high capital strength of the high bland.
For this reason, I will continue to create avant-garde works, improve my fashion design skills, and explore new possibilities in fashion design. As a recent challenge, I would like to create works that test the skills I have cultivated so far and send them out frequently. As you can see from my Instagram page, I'm not very active right now. This is because I am doing various activities to improve my fashion design skills. Now, rather than worrying about what others think about me, I believe that doing research in other fields to improve my abilities without rushing will lead to success in the future. However, this year, I want to test the accumulation of my experience and ability, so I plan to create and present works frequently.

It's also evident you are rebellious that is to say you also are a punk which you do reflects on your style. Do you recall any particular moment or phase that in your eyes was a pivotal period for you and your work?

Rebelliousness and appreciation are the main things that make up my creative style. When it comes to rebelliousness, I always remember experiencing an environment where prejudices stifled my style and fashion design possibilities. What I am grateful for is the opportunity to be fairly evaluated on my original ability and future possibilities related to it, without the meritocracy and authoritarianism I mentioned above. Like in this interview for instance.

Last but not least, Does gender influence your concepts and creative direction? How?

Gender has a big impact on my creative work, and gender issues have a history of being socially watched gender with jaundiced eyes and suppressed. Also, since fashion design is closely related to the people who wear it, it is also a part that is deeply connected to the rebellion against fashion design.
The rebellious spirit of fashion design and the rebellious spirit of these social histories are deeply connected and have commonalities, and I think they have a great impact.