Japanese native Hiroko Takahashi was only seven years old when she determined her future. When she was watching a fashion show on TV, she was intrigued with how clothing could create beauty, and in her child's heart, she knew fashion was the path to follow.

During her high school years, she mastered the basics of clothes-making. The number of design she draw totaled up to one thousand.

With a growing desire for making clothes from the fabric itself, she enrolled the most renowned art school in Japan, the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1996 to study dyeing exclusively.

As she studied traditional technique of Japanese dyeing method, she increased the recognition of Kimono as daily attire. This is when her career began as an artist mainly focusing on Kimono and its accessories.

After finishing her master in 2002, she worked for an apparel company as a designer for a year. However, disappointed by its money-making mass production, she renews her passion towards the long-life concept of Kimono and decides to go back to the grad school in order to expand her knowledge of Kimono.

In April 2003, she reenrolled the Tokyo University of the Arts for doctoral course.

In 2005, she was invited by AFAA of French ministries of Foreign Affairs to work as an artist at The Cité Internationale des Arts and held two exhibitions.

After returning to Japan in December 2006, she founded HIROCOLEDGE Co., Ltd. and started her product brand, HIROCOLEDGE as part of her art work.

In May 2007, she designed national costume for Miss Japan/Universe, Riyo Mori. In August of the same year, she designed a costume for the rakugo (comic) storyteller, Karoku Yanagiya for the summer program "LUCKY LUCK SHOW" hosted by 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT at Tokyo Midtown.

In March 2008, she received her Doctorate in Fine Arts from the university.

She now takes proactive approaches to her artistic endeavors in the area such as craft, fashion, and fine arts and her works incorporate chic, modern twist to the traditional techniques that have been passed down for generations.

MARU - circle & dot -
Repetition of circles. Dot Patterns. They existed as kimono patterns since an ancient times. They may be simple in terms of a shape, but combining them together brings a whole different feel to the design.

Hoping that my kimonos become a daily attire as they used to be, I decided to eliminate the elegance of a kimono, making them pop, casual, and fun to wear instead.

So, what I did was to place circles at equal spaces. The closer the circles are to each other, the bolder is the design. The farther the circles are to each other, the less bolder is the design.

Dot patterns are not too elegant but very chic. Dot patterns on kimonos are pretty chic.

The kimonos from 100 years ago in Meiji and Taisho period have a modern feeling and a distinct appeal to all of us. It is my mission to make kimonos that will have the same appeal not only in the presnt but also in the future.

"During the course of my various art work, studying clothing and dyeing gave me a great opportunity to think about Japanese culture and its tradition.

What I discovered ... was the beauty of Kimono. The world of Kimono was full of aesthetics built and cherished by the Japanese for the past hundreds of years. In my understanding, it is a form of tradition completed in the past which cannot be changed. What I am capable of is to inherit its technique and concept , and to benefit from their expertise to create a new tradition.

I'm a modern Japanese woman living in modern Japanese culture. And that should be my strength that gives a distinctive Japanese taste to my artwork.

When my "Japan" in present-day and their "Japan" in the old-days meet somewhere in the middle, I have a feeling that a new tradition will begin.

I couldn't ask for more if what I create was to cross from one generation to another in the future."