日本語 
Designer Dreaming - Akira Isogawa
Falling in love with Australia on a working holiday is common enough. Following a dream and achieving international acclaim in the fickle fashion field is a little rarer.
Today Akira Isogawa is one of Australia’s most innovative and renowned fashion designers. Back in 1986 the then 21-year-old was simply a Japanese student looking to explore the world. With the option of either New Zealand or Australia for a year on a working holiday, he chose the latter, making it his new home and, unknowingly, his muse.
“I found Australia very welcoming and the people very friendly,” he says. “After a year I really wanted to stay longer.”
Isogawa studied English and worked as a kitchen-hand and tour guide to make ends meet. Meanwhile Australia’s freedom, fresh ideas, international flavour and youthful culture were fanning the fires of a passion for fashion. Despite having always loved fashion, he had never consciously thought about becoming a designer. But finding he was unable to express himself with local clothing, the solution was simple – he started making his own.
“Australia encouraged me to start something I never thought I could do,” he says, explaining how he began studying fashion design at the National Art School in Sydney, and then opened his own boutique two years after graduation.
Growing his reputation with two presentations during the years that followed, he found international acclaim at the 1996 Mercedes Australian Fashion Week, in Sydney. Fashionista jaws dropped at his ‘New Generation’ collection, and influential buyer Joan Burstein of London’s famous Browns bought his whole range.
Two years later his Botanica collection was snapped up by Barney’s New York. Such international cred led to his first showing in Paris, where he now shows twice yearly. Today his label can be found in fashion capitals around the world, including L’Eclaireur in Paris and Biffi in Milan, while his timeless designs adorn stars such as Naomi Campbell and Cate Blanchett.
Isogawa says he is proof that with a little passion and determination, anyone in Australia can achieve their dream or goal.
“In Australia,” he says, “you can choose your own destiny.”
