I have recently graduated from Central Saint Martins with a first class honours in BA Textile Design specialising in Knit.

My love for knitting only clicked while being a student at Central Saint Martins. I was unsure about knitting until I picked up a crochet hook and taught myself how to crochet, unlocking a lost memory of my grandmother teaching me how to crochet when I was 6 years old. Before I knew it, I was crocheting mindlessly for hours. I found the repetition of knitting therapeutic, but not limiting to my creativity. I found similarities in the process of my cooking, plating of food, painting and the way I would do things in my day to day life; enjoying the process, but always looking for a way to improve it.

Being Japanese, growing up in an international environment and now living in the UK, has given me a multicultural background. I find comfort in and celebrate diversity, as I enjoy meeting people from around the world and learning their culture. This is a key part in me as a designer as I continue to search for ways to combine elements of Eastern and Western culture into my work. Whether that being Eastern elements influenced by Western culture or the reverse. As a designer I feel the responsibility to utilise my multicultural background in order to combine and connect the two cultures in which I exist in. Being away from my home country has made me appreciate my culture and their craft. Within Japanese craft there is purpose, thoughtfulness, and technique that comes together in a beautiful aesthetic. This is what lead me to my most recent project, ‘SUGITA SHOTEN‘. An ode to my culture, and a love letter to my family.