Created by Masahiro Nakagawa and LICA, the popular 1990s-early 2000s avant-garde brand and now Urahara (“behind Harajuku”) cult label, made headlines with its performance art fashion shows, beginning in its birthplace of Tokyo and later finding its home in Paris. Nakagawa is inspired by his mother’s hand-knitted sweaters and Ultraman and monster toys and printed clothing from his childhood. He draws inspiration from Tokyo’s subcultural scene, surrounded by the anime, music, and fashion of the time.

The brand’s numerical name is derived from a dream Nakagawa had in which on the 20th of November in 2047 many people gather “to say ‘Cheers’ to life and the memories they made that would continue to eternally shine.” In 2047, he imagines, “there will be a world where diversity and individualism are advancing as fast as computers and mobile progress.”

The character Hyoma, created from a graffiti Nakagawa would draw as a student, is drawn with face tattoos representative of Nakagawa’s vision of a changed world. A pioneer, as a cartoon design applied to luxury goods, Hyoma is an iconic image very often incorporated in the brand’s designs.