Considered one of the most important contemporary designers of the 20th century, Shiro Kuramata (1934-1991) graduated from Tokyo Polytechnic High School in Tokyo in 1953 and then trained as a cabinet maker at the Kuwasawa Design School in 1954. He established his own studio in 1965 where he worked until his death. In 1988, he designed the iconic chair titled Miss Blanche, an acrylic chair with rose petals embedded in the seat. He worked as an interior designer for Issey Miyake’s stores in New York, Paris and Tokyo. In 1990, the French government awarded him the medal of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres. His work can be found in the collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto. Azzedine Alaïa (1935-2017) was a great collector, having acquired over 15,000 pieces of the most important masters in the fashion history spanning from the 18th to the 21st.
