About

Brand Vision

mintdesigns interprets designing clothes as a product-design, in order to present, not equivalent to “trend”, possibilities and probabilities of “fashioni”. We aim to provide not only designing garments but supplies and spaces around us beyond any nationality, gender, age, and physical figure with wide range throughout from age of 3 to 100 to have fun with it. Apart from the freshness of herbs, “mint” from the brand name “mintdesigns” has the meaning of “brand-new” and “rare”.

Icon

〈 It has began from a paper button. 〉

mintdesigns’ journey began with a paper button. We created our iconic paper button before we start to design the clothes since we certainly felt our demand to give the identity on the buttons construct the garments. Our paper buttons are made of vulcanized fiber which is a material made of compressed pulp, and hand-die-cut by craftsmen in downtown Tokyo.
They have tactile quality and warmth that plastic buttons do not have and we put our deep thought into the hope that you will enjoy the aging process of natural materials along with their clothes for many years to come.
After 20 years, we still have those paper buttons on most of our products.

Originality

〈 original textiles and patterns 〉

mintdesigns is well known for its original textiles in utilizing graphics which is our expertise.
We develop and manage from prints to jacquards and materials like laces are produced by one of the leading factories in Japan In each season, the designers visit those factories to adjust the color and pattern combinations, and they pay close attention to details such as which graphic is placed on which part of the garment.
These textile designs are not limited to garments but are being used in a wider range of products including interior and package design.

Brand Profile

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.

  • July 2001 Established “mintdesigns”.
  • October 2002 Presented at Tokyo Fashion Week from 2003 S/S collection.
  • 2005 Received 7th Moet & Chandon New Designers Award (Tokyo).
  • 2010 Participated in 28th Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix (Tokyo).
  • 2015 Published “MINTDESIGNS” (Seigensha).
  • 2016 Opened the flagship store, MINTDESIGNS AOYAMA (Tokyo).
    Visiting Professor at Osaka Seikei University and Kyusyu Sangyo University.

Shop list

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

mintdesigns KYOTO
JR KYOTO ISETAN, 5F “ReStyle”
higashi-shiokoji, shiokoji-sagaru, karasuma st.
shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, japan
tel +81(0)70 3305 2095

Online Store
Official Online Store
ZOZOTOWN

mintdesigns online shop