Who's ALT?

brand story uncovered

ALT

text and photography provided by Yuka Nakazawa

alt’ is a textile design unit based in London and Berlin. It was established by myself, Yuka Nakazawa and another Japanese designer in early 2018. The other half of our duo is Aki Makita, now based in Berlin. She began her journey at the London College of Communication, UAL where she studied towards a BA in Graphic and Media Design. Along the way she also acquired expertise in silkscreen printing and pattern making. She later returned to Tokyo and this is where we first connected while working within the graphic design/advertising industry. It was through this industry experience, that we learnt that our designs were dictated by the requirements of our industry. Therefore, we sought the freedom to express our creativity to its fullest, as artist.

It was at this point where I decided to up sticks, follow my passion and relocate to London to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins, UAL. It was here where I developed and refined many of the techniques we use today to produce the collection, from embroidery floss to the abstract art that is printed on our opulent fabrics.

Together we have combined our creative expertise and ardour to form ‘alt’, our platform for unbounded artistic expression.

The brand concept is based on the liberation of one’s artistic alter ego, where we can design and create at will and in abundance. This is also the basis in which our namesake was derived.

“alt's concept is based on the liberation of one's artistic alter ego.”

Our background in graphic design has had a natural influence on our overall design philosophy, as well as the approach we take as we transform our conceptual ideas into distinctive textile-based products. This creates the juxtaposition that gives our work its originality. All our products are exclusively designed in-house, and the vast majority are even handmade by us. At the core of our creative process, we aim to capture and evoke the unique character of each individual material that we incorporate in to our products. Whether it be the yarn that forms our pompom earrings, or the fabrics used to produce our abstract art painted scarves.

Our sole aim is to fully liberate our artistic alter ego. We feel that ‘alt’ has afforded us that opportunity to express our artistic alter ego without limitation. Whereby our designs are free to evolve as true, unobstructed expressions of our creativity.

We take great pleasure in being able to bring our ideas from inception through all stages of design and production, to completion. When fabricating our textile designs, we often experiment with a variety of materials, textures, finishes and techniques. Currently we are testing several designs that feature techniques such as weaving and dyeing. We also continuously explore the textile world in order to support the fabrication of our new and progressive designs. Ultimately, we hope to offer people a product that empowers them.

For our latest collection we have taken the ‘European Woman’ as a muse, whereby we envision and conceptualise detailed memoirs for each character. These in turn form the basis of our designs as we attempt to relay their emotions through our textile creations.

For example; the inspiration behind our detachable collars made using embroidery, aptly named ‘SCARLETT’ (pink) and ‘VIOLET’ (purple) is derived from a tale of twin sisters searching their garden for their chosen flower. Yet despite their identical appearance they display drastically dissimilar desires.

“The European Woman as a muse, whereby we envision and conceptualise detail memoirs for each character.”

Similarly, we have our pompom earrings named ‘EMMA’ which portray and embody the recollections of her travels through an array of colour, characterised by the starlit sky of the deserts, to the aqua blue tropical oceans and the crimson sunsets that lay across the Alps.

Credit:

Make up & Hair styling : Violet Zeng Photographer : Antonio Eugenio Model : Margaux Feron Photo studio : Chats Palace Arts Centre Art direction & Styling : Yuka Nakazawa & Aki Makita (alt)

ALTDESIGN.LONDON | @ALT.DESIGN.LONDON