Couture by Keiko Tagai - Tokyo Survival Channel

Hey everyone!

I’ve been super excited to partner with the incredible Tokyo Challenge which has been a majorly exciting journey for me, as I move into travel. I’ll be focusing first on some beauty and fashion tutorials before delving into my exploration of Tokyo as an adult with them over the next few weeks! Stay tuned for some fabulous travel content, check out my Pikachu look and my gorgeous Geisha look which I talk about in my Geisha blog here.

One of the opportunities that were presented to me was working with the exquisite Tokyo based couture designer Keiko Tagai. Being a model, and that being my route to find Tokyo all those years ago, I was completely touched by the offer and couldn’t wait to delve into her world. Her work is in short - astounding. Really beautiful fabrics and cuts. Very traditional feels that have been totally brought into today’s modernist fashion world. I was really stunned at the offer to wear one of her dresses and I will be adventuring around on my appointments in one of her pieces in a few week’s time so I am jumping at the opportunity.

I really wanted to feature some of the Kimono Hat accessories here because I was just amazed at the richness and feel of the embroidery. The colours are really amazing but the idea that there’s a Parisian twist to something so conventionally Japanese was innovative, I really love the way she uses feathers and images of birds to tonally grade the fabrics. They look three dimensional and totally alive.

Keiko Tagai was started in 2011 and the garments are totally bespoke, which can be clearly seen by the quality of the cut and the fabric choices. They offer a traditional Japanese feel to a more global style, and I think it's just a wonderful blend for a modern woman. I fell in love with the range of hats and the jade toned hats, bags, and chokers. The Kanji series stands out, Kanji being one of the most symbolic languages as it has a depth of meanings as you combine the over 10 million characters. This features heavily in some of the garments and I think that the way in which the accessories, Kimonos or hats could be combined is almost another layer to that. You can mix and match traditional couture pieces with western pieces and create a poem in your own dress. I’m extremely honored and grateful to be working with Keiko Tagai and I will be sharing that on Agitprop next.

If you want to check out her Instagram check it out here!