LVMH Prize winner SOSHI OTSUKI is rewriting the rules of modern tailoring
PHOTOGRAPHY RIKU IKEYA
STYLING DAICHI HATSUZAWA
Last week, LVMH Prize winner SOSHI OTSUKI showed his debut collection at Pitti Uomo in Florence. Standing at the intersection of heritage and innovation, meet the designer eloquently reshaping modern tailoring.
When Soshi Otsuki’s name was announced on September 3 as the winner of the LVMH Prize Fund, he was the last person expecting to hear it. “I was genuinely surprised,” says the 35-year-old Japanese designer, who was awarded €400,000 in addition to a year-long mentorship from LVMH. “I tend to get deeply disappointed when I expect too much, so I had closed off my emotions.”
That restraint is perhaps typical of Otsuki, whose label has become known for its delicate balance of structure and vulnerability. For a decade, he has built his brand from the ground up, operating almost entirely alone. “I’m the only full-time employee,” he admits. “I outsource production management and one patternmaker. Since the brand has been operating with a minimal setup in both space and people, my priority is to use the fund to build proper infrastructure.” For now, his Tokyo apartment doubles as his atelier. “If I could find a good space, I’d move tomorrow,” he says, almost amused by the simplicity of it.
Born in Chiba, east of Tokyo, in 1990, Otsuki launched his menswear label in 2015. Over the past decade, his approach has matured from intuitive experimentation into something much more refined. “Ten years ago, it was like throwing ideas out into the world,” he says. “Now, it feels more like a back-and-forth dialogue.” That dialogue often takes place with the past. “I personally love nostalgia — it’s almost what I live for,” he says. His references are tactile. “I often look at images of past Armani pieces, and I do collect vintage suits. I’m very much inspired by the 1980s when ‘Made in Italy’ tailoring flowed into Japan; this really forms the foundation of my collection’s mood — that, and the ‘Japanese inferiority complex’,” he adds. “I myself definitely carried a sense of inferiority toward the West for a long time — it’s almost part of my own spirit.”
JING YI WEARS WOOL-MIX COAT, WASHI-MIX SHIRT, SILK-MIX SHIRT, AND WOOL PANTS, ALL SOSHIOTSUKI. SCARF, VINTAGE
I love nostalgia — it’s almost what I live for. I often look at images of past Armani pieces, and I collect vintage suits. I’m very much inspired by the 1980s when ‘Made in Italy’ tailoring flowed into Japan; this really forms the foundation of my collection’s mood.
SOSHI OTSUKI
His approach to menswear is quietly subversive and it plays on that duality: the respect for Western structure and the quiet rebellion of Japanese reinterpretation. His tailoring is oversized, but not aggressively so; there’s an elegance to it all, a soft fluidity in how it all hangs, which makes it achingly appealing. “The man I design for isn’t defined by what’s ‘cool’. He’s someone who questions what’s been considered wrong — and shows it might, in fact, be right,” Otsuki notes.
“There are many established rules surrounding tailoring, which are built upon a long history, and what I love is how design comes to life when those rules are slightly shifted.” In his spring/summer 2026 collection, dead-stock kimono linings — those beautiful narrow bolts of silk once hidden inside garments — are reborn as shirts. “Their limited width became an advantage,” he says. And yet, you’re unlikely to see any of it on the designer himself. What does he wear? “Rarely SOSHIOTSUKI,” he admits. “Usually COMME des GARÇONS or Yohji Yamamoto.” Honestly, he’s missing out.
KENGO WEARS SILK-MIX SHIRT AND WOOL PANTS, BOTH SOSHIOTSUKI. SCARF, GIORGIO ARMANI
JING YI WEARS RAYON SHIRT, SOSHIOTSUKI. SKIRT, STYLIST’S OWN. TIE, GIORGIO ARMANI
PHOTOGRAPHY RIKU IKEYA
STYLING DAICHI HATSUZAWA
HAIR KAZUHIRO NAKA
MAKEUP NOBUKO MAEKAWA
PRODUCTION KONTAKT/MIKIYA MATSUSHITA
PHOTO ASSISTANT SHINTARO UCHIDA
STYLING ASSISTANT NANAKO KESSOKU
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT MATHILDE GOUALLEC
MODELS JING YI. AT TOMORROW TOKYO
KENGO AT CDU MODELS
MAI AT DOMO TOKYO
SHUN AT BRAVO MODELS TOKYO
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