About

The brand name “ mintdesigns ” represents “ mint ”: freshness of the aromatic plant, and also “ new ”or“ scarcity value ”, as in “ mint condition ”mintdesigns conceives of clothing as a form of timeless product design that is not limited to thecategory of fashion. It is an item to enrich people’s daily lives and sight.
One of mintdesigns’catchword is “ happy mistake ”, which means to take an unexpected outcomes positively. Sometimes the “ failures ”are more thrilling than what we originally envisioned. There are limits to how far our imaginations can fly.

Hokuto Katsui: Hokuto Katsui was born in 1973. After studying at Parsons School of Design in New York,
he moved to London and graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

Nao Yagi: Nao Yagi was born in 1973. After studying art criticism at Doshisha Univerisity,
she graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London.

2001 Katsui and Yagi returned to Japan after their graduation and launched mintdesigns
2003 The team has participated in such events as the 2003 Spring and Summer Tokyo Collection and 2008 Spring and Summer Sao Paolo Collection.

awards

2005 Received 7th Moet & Chandon New Designers Award (Tokyo)
2010 Participated in 28th Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix (Tokyo)

solo exhibitions

2011 “ Happy Mistake ! – Pattern on Pattern – ” / Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (Taiwan)
“ Happy Mistake ! – Pattern on Pattern – in Kyoto ” / Osaka Seikei University, Gallery B (Kyoto)
2013 “ happy people ” / Design Gallery / 21Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Ishikawa)
2016 “ MATERIAL DICTIONALY ” / ART GALLERY ARTIUM (Fukuoka)
“ MATERIAL DICTIONALY ” / PARCO GALLERY (Aichi)
2017 “ mintdesigns Graphic & Textile Works 2001-2017 ” CREATION GALLERY G8 (Tokyo)
2019 “ BLACK CINDERELLA ” POCKO GALLERY (London)

group exhibitions

2007 “ THIS PLAY ! ” 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT (Tokyo)
2009 “ Tokyo Fibre ‘09 SENCEWARE ” Milano Salone (Milan)
2010 “ Future Beauty : 30 Years of Japanese Fashion ” / Barbican Art Gallery (London)
2011 “ Future Beauty : 30 Years of Japanese Fashion ” / Haus der Kunst (Munich)
“ Feel and Think : A New Era of Tokyo Fashion ” / Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (Tokyo)
2012 “ Future Beauty : 30 Years of Japanese Fashion ” / Museum Contemporary Tokyo of Art (Tokyo)
“ NEOREAL in the FOREST / Canon ” Milano Salone (Milan)
2013 “ Feel and Think : A New Era of Tokyo Fashion ” / Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation（Sydney）
“ Future Beauty : 30 Years of Japanese Fashion ” / Seattle Art Museum (Seattle)
“ Future Beauty : 30 Years of Japanese Fashion ” / Peabody Essex Museum (Salem)
2014 “ Future Beauty : 30 Years of Japanese Fashion ” / The National Museum of Modern Art,Kyoto (Kyoto)
“ The Future of Fashion is Now ”/ Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam)
“ Future Beauty : 30 Years of Japanese Fashion ” / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (Brisbane)
2019 「BLACK CINDERELLA」 POCKO GALLERY (London)

Publications

2015 “ MINTDESIGNS ” （Seigensha）

Shop list

MINTDESIGNS AOYAMA
5-49-5 jingumae, shibuya-ku, tokyo, japan
tel +81(0)3 6427-99066
open everyday 11AM-8PM

mintdesigns garage store
shibuya parco, 4F (port parco)
15-1 udagawa-cho, shibuya-ku, Tokyo, japan
tel +81(0)3 6455 3574

mintdesigns KYOTO
JR KYOTO ISETAN, 5F “ReStyle”
higashi-shiokoji, shiokoji-sagaru, karasuma st.
shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, japan
tel +81(0)75 342 5658