Maison Kitsuné: The Music and Fashion Brand You Need To Know About

An almost psychedelic concoction of 1970s-inspired Rock, eccentric patterns in a vintage color palette, and sharp tailoring highlighted Maison Kitsuné's FW20 collection at Paris Fashion Week which was led by former Creative Director Yuni Ahn, wherein this collection would be her last for the brand after only three seasons. Ahn — with previous stints such as working alongside acclaimed women's fashion designer Miuccia Prada at Prada subsidiary Miu Miu and serving as Design Director for Celine — was brought to the helm as Creative Director of Maison Kitsuné in 2018 due to her connections with the brands' founders Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki. From a shared passion for music and fashion, a partnership was born, and it's interesting to find out why it was so short-lived. To get a sense of the separation between Yuni Ahn and Maison Kitsuné, it's important to discuss the origin of the brand and the ethos that they stand for.

Image of Gildas Loaëc, Yuni Ahn, and Masaya Kuroki via Business of Fashion

Maison Kitsuné started as a record label in 2002 by its current founders and only transitioned to producing clothing in 2005 when they launched a small menswear line that included jeans and polo shirts. At the time, Gildas Loaëc was the manager of French electronic music duo Daft Punk and Masaya Kuroki was a Paris-based architect who previously worked for Jean Nouvel who is one of France's leading architects. While Loaëc was managing Daft Punk, he also worked at a record store which was coincidentally right next to a vintage shop where Kuroki was working. During his hours after work, Kuroki would frequent the record store and subsequently started a friendship with Loaëc; it was as if fate had decided to connect two people who believed that music and fashion should combine. From that point on, a unique brand was formed that not only showcases that music and fashion influences each other but that they can unite into a single entity.

In Spring 2015, Maison Kitsuné launched its debut New York Fashion Week collection which highlighted the brand's signature style: Light-hearted Parisian-inspired casual basics that are both cool and wearable. Most of the brands' clothing centers around the fox logo ("Kitsune" in Japanese) which, in Japanese folklore, is a kind of fox that shapeshifts into any form it wants, and it symbolizes the versatility of their pieces ranging from tees to knit-wear. More recently, however, the brand has been pushing to evolve the brand into a more fashion-forward style while still maintaining the brand's identity - this is where Yuni Ahn comes in.

Aside from its music and fashion labels, Maison Kitsune also has a cafe called Cafe Kitsuné located in Japan, Korea, Paris, and New York, where they play music by artists signed under the Kitsuné Musique label, serve quality coffee from South America, and also sell Cafe Kitsuné branded clothing; It was at the Cafe Kitsuné located at the gardens of the Palais-Royal in Paris where Yuni Ahn met Loaëc and Kuroki. Ahn shared that same ethos of incorporating music into fashion as its founders, and her arrival signaled the start of a change of direction for Maison Kitsune's clothing.

It has always been a goal for Loaëc to establish a clear identity for the brand. According to Loaec, "For us, it's not about producing fast fashion. We want our products to last. I really hope that our clothes will have such a strong appeal that one day they'll be hanging in vintage stores alongside other iconic brands." There was no better way to achieve this than to hire Yuni Ahn as creative director; Ahn says in an interview about her goals for the brand, "I want to understand the history to continue progressing, in a way that is really clear to people what the world of Maison Kitsuné is."

In a way, Ahn did her part to spark a new age for Maison Kitsuné. Her debut FW19 collection — which included trousers and tailored jackets in neutral colors — focused less on the brands' Kitsune logo basics and more on Ahn's new take which blended sharp tailoring with a relaxed feel. With Maison Kitsuné's SS20 collection, which marked the brands' debut at Paris Fashion Week, Ahn incorporated a playful side into the pieces: featuring pastel and neon colors while also including pieces that had the Kitsune fox logo doing yoga poses. For her final collection for FW20 which was inspired by 70s rock, the brand wanted to emphasize having an "edgy, raw attitude" and a "free spirit" in the way men and women can wear each other's garments. Although Yuni Ahn's work at Maison Kitsuné was short-lived, she helped the brands' style evolve into what its founders want it to be: modern and timeless.

Before her departure, Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki said: "We want to thank Yuni Ahn for the significant achievements accomplished over the engagement. We are deeply grateful to her for having set the path for our ambitions and will continue building on these foundations to further grow Maison Kitsuné into the independent Paris fashion house we’re aiming to become.” Wherever the brand decides to go from here, it will always sell an entire lifestyle to its audience, and there is nothing more empowering than to be a part of that.