Chitose Abe
Founder and designer of sacai
Chitose Abe is a Japanese designer who founded sacai in 1999 after working as a pattern maker at Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe. Known for hybrid designs that fuse different garments into one, she has built sacai into an independent brand shown in Paris and celebrated for collaborations with Nike and others.
| Role | Founder and designer, sacai |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Paris debut | 2009 (runway 2011) |
| Previously | Pattern maker at Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe |
| Born | 1965, Gifu Prefecture |
Who is Chitose Abe?
Chitose Abe, born in Gifu Prefecture in 1965, is the founder and designer of sacai, the Tokyo based label she started in 1999. Over more than 25 years she has grown the brand steadily and independently, and Hypebeast named her its Designer of the Year for 2025. Her signature is hybridisation: combining elements of different garments, such as tailoring and sportswear, into a single piece.
Career
After studying in Nagoya, Abe worked briefly at the Japanese apparel company World. She then joined Comme des Garçons as a pattern maker and continued in that role when Junya Watanabe launched his own label within the company. In 1997 she left to start a family, and in 1999 she founded sacai with five hand knitted pieces.
Barneys New York and Colette began stocking her designs, and sacai made its Paris debut in 2009, followed by a runway debut in 2011. She received the Mainichi Fashion Award in 2007 and 2015 and has been part of the BoF 500 since 2013. Karl Lagerfeld once praised her as one of the most interesting designers working at the time.
Influence on the fashion business
Abe has turned collaboration into a central part of her brand strategy while keeping sacai's identity intact. Her partners have included:
- Nike, with hybrid sneakers that merge several silhouettes, most recently the Zegamadome
- Levi's, UGG, Birkenstock, Vans and Carhartt WIP
- WTAPS, with a military inspired collection in 2025
- Jean Paul Gaultier, where she was the first guest designer invited to reinterpret the house's couture archive
She has told Hypebeast that she only pursues projects she genuinely wants to make, trusting her own sense and intuition rather than chasing guaranteed sales.
Why it matters
sacai is one of the most successful independent designer brands to emerge from Japan in recent decades. Abe's career shows that a label can achieve global reach through carefully chosen partnerships, without being absorbed into a large group, and her hybrid approach has influenced how designers and sportswear brands think about product innovation. Her career, from pattern maker to founder, also underlines how technical garment construction skills can become the foundation of a distinctive creative signature.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Chitose Abe?
Chitose Abe is a Japanese designer who founded the fashion label sacai in 1999. She previously worked as a pattern maker at Comme des Garçons and for Junya Watanabe.
What is sacai known for?
sacai is known for hybrid garments that combine different pieces of clothing into one, and for collaborations with brands such as Nike, Levi's and UGG.