Masanori Nishimuraya

Masanori Nishimuraya’s designs are well known in the fashion world as the logical conclusion for high fashion. With noted influences like Junya Watanabe and Yohji Yamamoto, the Nishimuraya brand has grown to near-mainstream success. His designs are referred to as “ground-breaking,” “revolutionary,” and “pretty f*cking weird, emphasis on pretty,” by customers and costumers alike.

Masanori got his start while still living in Osaka, working from home on borderline avant-garde designs in his sketchbook until he could go to school and access the sewing machines in the home-ec classrooms. Reportedly, the designer grew up poor and this was the only way for him to vent his creativity. As a ten year old, he caught wind of a design competition for an upcoming science fiction film, and after a brief period of daydreaming about winning and the renown that would follow, he set to work.

He and 14 other designers had their designs selected and were displayed on the big screen on humans and aliens alike in CHAMELEON: TOWNSHIP OF A HUNDRED STARS. While the film itself was panned for how cheesy it was, it won several awards for innovative design, and Masanori got a check for the equivalent of $300 for his work.

After that, his career only continued to grow. He began participating in design competitions and offering up commissions left and right, and the more he won, the more his name became well-known and more people wished to wear his designs, as wacky as they are.

The peak of his career is as dramatic as his initiation; during a televised design competition in Tokyo when Masanori was 15 years old, a competitor won first place with a design stolen from Masanori’s sketchbook. While the details were unclear, as soon as the prize was declared, the real designer stood in front of all of the cameras and declared his opponent a liar and a cheat, showing the pages ripped from his sketchbook. The alleged first place winner, however, claimed that Masanori was the thief all long.

Viewers across the nation baited their breaths waiting for the investigation that followed to reach a conclusion, and ultimately Masanori was proven in the right. The public outcry that he should be treated so unfairly by the competition resulted in young Masanori drowning in commission orders. He completed designs worn by celebrities across the world; anyone wishing to be avant-garde or cutting edge in their fashion would give him a call.

Some well known examples of his work have been featured in the Museum of Popular Culture in Seattle, Washington, at the infamous annual Katayama Costume Gala, at the Met Gala, and in high fashion shows across the world. His acceptance to Hope’s Peak Academy came at no surprise to anyone following his career.

However, information past his early life and career is sparse at best. In interviews, Masanori Nishimuraya poorly represents his brand and is notoriously foul-mouthed and unpleasant to deal with. As a result, he is not interviewed often, and little about his day-to-day operation is known.