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KIRA ISOGAWA cannot stop laughing. His giggling is infectious and he just won’t stop.
   It is the middle of Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, kicked off three days earlier by Isogawa with an early morning show presented at Sydney’s New South Wales Art Gallery.
   For me, viewing his beautiful array of designs, paraded by models to the sound of silence, was an almost spiritual experience. The question that has the Japanese-born fashion designer doubled over is about the eastern philosophy, zen.
   The words ‘calm’ and ‘relaxed way of living’ are probably what he has reacted to.
   He has worked seven days a week for the past 21 days non-stop, most days until 2 A.M., surviving on just four hours’ sleep a day.

‘That is what I mean about giving minimum effort for maximum result. I am definitely not into big productions. I think the clothes should speak for themselves. That is the true purpose of having a parade’

   ‘Honestly, the day after the show I couldn’t get up. My body decided somehow to stay in bed. I was completely stuck, I couldn’t move,’ Isogawa says.
   Sitting opposite me in his Surry Hills workroom, he finally pulls himself together to answer my question.
   ‘I can’t deny I am influenced by zen because it is my cultural background,’ he says.
   He explains that one principle he uses is to give minimum effort to get a maximum result.
   ‘Purposefulness is also very important, and staying clear within your vision,’ he says.
   Using the art installation already on the walls as a backdrop and no music, Isogawa’s art gallery show was a perfect example of zen in action.
   ‘That is what I mean about giving minimum effort for maximum result. I am definitely not into big productions. I think the clothes should speak for themselves. That is the true purpose of having a parade,’ he says.
   Known for designs that radiate fragility and harmony with a special focus on detail, Isogawa’s spring–summer collection resonates with beauty and an uncharacteristic injection of bright colour.
   Shibori (tie-dyed) techniques are used to create a burnt orange background for his vintage kimono-style floral prints. Vests and T-shirts bear prints of Japanese armour breastplates embellished with coloured jewels.
   ‘I haven’t named this collection but the inspiration comes from colour. I wanted to do something primal and strong, strong enough to make a statement within the colour itself,’ Isogawa says.
   Undoubtedly one of Australia’s most innovative and renowned fashion designers, Isogawa, 37, has always loved fashion, though he says he never consciously thought about becoming a designer.
   Labels he likes to wear include Comme des Garçons. When he arrived in Australia in the mid-1980s, he couldn’t find anything he liked so he started making clothes for himself.

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