Cover Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photography: Theo Liu)
Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photography: Theo Liu)
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Tatler joins celebs such as Heart Evangelista in Tokyo to discover Moynat’s capsule collection with Japanese artist Kazumasa Nagai at Dover Street Market Ginza, where his iconic animal artworks meet French luxury craftsmanship
In the heart of Tokyo’s avant-garde fashion district, Dover Street Market Ginza’s austere concrete space has been transformed into an unexpected sanctuary of wild imagination. The exclusive capsule collection between French luxury house Moynat and legendary Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai launched on December 18, turning the industrial-chic floors of DSM Ginza into a sophisticated menagerie where fashion, art and heritage converge.
The launch event drew an eclectic crowd: art collectors, fashion enthusiasts and multi-disciplinary creatives gathered to see this unique collaboration between the French luxury house and the Japanese design master. The space hummed with enthusiasm as attendees discovered Nagai’s iconic Life series reimagined across an array of luxury leather goods.
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Above Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai (Photo: courtesy of Moynat)
Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai (Photo: courtesy of Moynat)
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At 95, Nagai’s impact on Japanese visual culture is monumental. As one of the “12 Japanese Masters”—an elite group of graphic designers who revolutionised Japan’s post-war visual arts—and co-founder of the Nippon Design Center in 1960, his seven-decade career includes more than 1,000 posters that helped define modern Japanese graphic design. His acclaimed Life series, which he started in the 1980s, is renowned for depicting animals with minimalist precision while conveying deep emotional resonance.
The collection itself is a masterclass in creative fusion. Moynat’s expert leather craftsmen have translated Nagai’s bold interpretations of lions, chimpanzees, owls, starfish, octopus and whale sharks onto their signature canvas bags. The result is playful and sophisticated, with the animals rendered in striking red and blue colourways that seem to pulse with life against the neutral canvas background.
Heart Evangelista at Moynat’s launch event at Dover Street Market, Ginza, Tokyo (Photo: courtesy of Moynat)
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Each piece carries multiple layers of historical significance. The collection, available exclusively at Dover Street Market Ginza, Tokyo, features Moynat’s historic monogram, designed by Henri Rapin in the 1920s—the same Rapin who left his mark on Japanese architectural history through his work on what is now the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. While the collection available at Moynat’s boutiques worldwide features a joyful bright-coloured canvas.
Above Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photo: Theo Liu)
Above Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photo: Theo Liu)
Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photo: Theo Liu)
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The campaign imagery, shot by photographer Theo Liu and featuring model Kiko Mizuhara, captures both the collection’s playful spirit and urban sophistication. Mizuhara, photographed against a traditional Japanese house contrasting an urban luxury styling, embodies the modern collector who appreciates both heritage and innovation.
Moynat x Kazumasa Nagai collection, exclusively available at Dover Street Market, Ginza, Tokyo
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“Animals come in all shapes and varieties; they co-exist with one another. I focused on the life inside me and how it was consistent with the animals. I didn’t draw them realistically; they were all from my world expressed simply with a sense of curiosity and cuteness. My aim was to energise people and create something that symbolises it, that is the Life series,” reflects Nagai on his iconic work. The collaboration with Moynat has expanded his work into another dimension and undoubtedly attracts a new generation to discover his iconic designs. “These pieces have become something that expands into the dreams of those who carry them.”
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