Born in Fukuoka Japan, Hiroaki Sueyasu graduated from Omura Beauty and Fashion College with Hair design course in 1996 and moved to London in 2002. A self-educated designer, he started off by disassembling vintage wear, an approach that resembles the graphic artists from the punk age that he has deep respect towards.
After returning Japan, Hiroaki Sueyasu launched KIDILL in 2014.
KIDILL is a coinage of pureness within a chaos. His inspirations are based on the London punk, hardcore punk, post punk and grunge cultures he encountered in the 1990s, he creates clothing to the delinquents now with the new modern mind.
The first runway collection was presented in Tokyo for the FW14-15 season, and received the 8th DHL design award for his FW 15-16 collection. In 2016 he opens his flag ship store KIDILL ROOM in Tokyo, Shibuya, where youths of fashion and music lovers come and go. He has also received the Tokyo governors prize for the Tokyo New Designer Fashion Grand Prix for 2017.
Collaboration for the collection starting off with Dennis Morris in SS18, KIDILL continues working with artists the designer deeply respects, Public Image Limited, Sheila Rock, The Damned, Siouxsie Sioux, Peter Murphy, Jamie Reid, Winston Smith. The collaboration goes beyond artists but working with EDWIN a reputable Japan denim brand sharing similar philosophy adds the excitement which emanates universal values which is the unchanged style that the designer pursuits.
KIDILL has been showing his shows independently in Paris since SS21, and It will be on the official schedule for Paris Fashion Week from FW21-22 season.
We met Hiroaki after his presentation during the last man fashion week in Paris and that’s what he said.
Vanity Teen – Hi There! What is fashion for you?
Hiroaki Sueyasu – Fashion is a twist, it’s a way to express all my passions. It’s an attitude, it’s my life-style.
VT – And what is KIDILL?
HS – Since I’m very young I love culture in its different aspects: music, art, punk of course. KIDILL is a mix of everything I love with no compromises.
VT – Usually, where does your inspiration come from?
HS – The inspiration is coming from everywhere, mainly from external inputs.
Those outside inputs are always linked with my inside feelings even the skateboarding that was one of my passion when I was younger is a big inspiration today.
VT – With one word (if you can), how could you define KIDILL?
HS – KIDILL is an explosion. It’s an inside explosion strongly connected with the world and the universe.
VT – Through this SS24 presentation, you demonstrate more than ever that punk is not an aesthetic but a way of being, and beyond that, a state of mind. Can you tell us something more about the Collection?
HS – Punk is again the main point of the collection, it can’t be different because punk is our DNA.
However, this season we returned to Japan, Tokyo. After a few seasons dedicated to London and its sub-culture for SS24 we decided to back home with a focus on Japanese culture. There’s some similarity with the British pankish dimension and you can naturally feel this deep link in the collection.
VT – Is there a key piece in collection?
HS – Each piece is a key piece for me. It’s hard to choose when you love what you created. But the head-pieces are definitely the strongest ones, the head-pieces are the leitmotif of the collection.
VT – How and where do you see your brand in the future?
HS – In the next few years I would like to grow the brand and not only in creativity but in sales also (maybe with more commercial pieces). I would like to give it stability.
We’re just back in Paris after COVID-19 parenthesis, it’s a new beginning. We’re making things step by step, only thinking about the good of KIDILL.
Photos : Ko Tsuchiya