I like your jacket.
I designed it when I was working at Catherine Malandrino. I like things not too funky, but not too ordinary, like you can wear it every day, but still it is something fabulous.
How long have you been in New York?
Four years. I came to the U.S. to study at Savannah College of Art and Design, and then I came to New York when I graduated.
Do you miss Japan?
There’s much more freedom here. Japanese culture is more rigid. If I go back to Japan, I have to follow the rules step-by-step, and I don’t want to do that. It’s kind of a crazy society there. New York is all mixed up. In Japan, people are very nice to you, but who knows what they really think. New Yorkers just say what they think, and nothing is a problem.
What do you think of Japanese food here?
I like Ushiwakamaru on Houston Street. It’s really good and authentic. But there is a lot of bad, like a sushi place in midtown where I ordered from and it came with a cockroach. I don’t think it was owned by Japanese people.