For 25 years, Chitose Abe has redefined women’s fashion with a punk touch through her brand Sacai. Founded in 1999, Sacai quickly became a reference for fashion lovers seeking to break free from traditional conventions. Abe, with her unique approach to creating hybrid garments, has continually explored and redefined how women can express themselves through fashion. Her style is distinguished by a subtle and bold fusion of masculine and feminine elements, a reflection on the balance between stability and betrayal, a concept central to her work.
The Power of the Hybrid
One of Chitose Abe’s major contributions to the fashion industry is her unique language of hybridization. She blends seemingly incongruous silhouettes, such as military jackets with feminine skirts, to create a new and powerful aesthetic. In her creations, Abe refuses to compromise: her garments are both functional and beautiful, structured and fluid. This mix of styles, which she calls “the balance between stability and betrayal,” is what makes Sacai an iconic brand.
Take, for example, her iconic bomber jackets, fused with blazers or sweatshirts, which reinvented the silhouette of the 2000s. Her work around the A-line, often structured by men’s shirts with pleated lace or lightweight cotton backs, perfectly illustrates this approach. In Sacai’s creations, the woman is in perpetual motion, ready to embrace new dimensions of herself.
A New Chapter with the Spring 2025 Collection
For the Spring-Summer 2025 season, Chitose Abe continues to explore this duality with a collection that blends voluminous skirts and coats with torn fabrics. True to her aesthetic, she combines elements of traditional couture with contemporary inspirations. Her creations for this season are a tribute to individuality and the complexity of feminine personalities. Each piece seems to tell a story, a journey through the different facets of femininity.
Abe likes to say that her creations are a balance between stability and betrayal. This balance manifests in the incorporation of unexpected elements, such as the Lego roses she arranges at home, a metaphor for her artistic approach of transforming everyday elements into unique and surprising pieces. For Abe, anything can become art, whether a plain T-shirt or a plastic brick.
A Unique Creative Philosophy
One of Chitose Abe’s particularities is that she does not let herself be influenced by industry trends. She acknowledges being aware of the evolution of fashion and the pressure that comes with it, but she chooses to create from her own vision. For her, creativity takes precedence over financial aspects or commercial success. Abe designs her collections first and foremost for her own pleasure and that of people who share her vision. This is reflected in her collaboration with major brands like Nike, Carhartt, and Jean-Paul Gaultier, where she always maintains her creative signature, blending it with that of her partners.
An Enigmatic Future
Although she focuses primarily on Sacai, Abe remains mysterious about her future projects. She recently opened an office in Paris, which hints at potential brand expansions. Some wonder if she might one day take on the creative direction of a more established fashion house, such as Chanel, which is currently looking for an artistic director. For now, Abe seems satisfied with her work at Sacai, where she continues to push the boundaries of fashion and explore new creative avenues, while keeping one foot in the simplicity of her personal passions like Legos and tennis.
In short, Chitose Abe has created a spiritual universe around Sacai, where each garment embodies a multiplicity of stories, cultures, and personalities. Her creations invite women to express their true essence, to free themselves from rigid codes, and to embrace the duality that is their strength. Through her approach to fashion, Abe shows that clothing is much more than just a matter of appearance: it is a means of asserting one’s identity in all its complexity.
