Kota Okuda is redefining the boundaries of jewelry design and taking it in very new directions that are being embraced by new audiences and garnering accolades from remarkably diverse sources. In fact, he is seen an innovative and unique voice, bringing craftsmanship and technology together with philosophy and fashion to make something fresh that frankly has not been seen before.

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He has been focused on jewelry design and its materiality from the time he started jewelry making at Central Saint Martins, London. Moving beyond traditional jewelry craftsmanship, he started to engage with contemporary fashion aestheticism and consequently to attract an American audience when he moved to New York to start his MFA in Fashion Design and Society at Parsons. From the strict attention to the very smallest details of jewelry design to life-size body costume making, his creative field expanded and he has established an outstanding position at the intersection jewelry and fashion design that is unique.

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The boundaries between fine art, fashion and applied craft fascinate Okuda and this space is the starting point that informs his design thinking. The balance of significance, purpose, value, materiality, scale and performance is important and considered throughout his process. He is hyper enthusiastic about investigating and understanding the history, context, material and techniques behind contemporary jewelry, art and fashion. His aesthetic contains classical and antique elements whilst having a contemporary twist with a sense of humor that allows his work to be accessible and fit into the wider art and design context.

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Okuda’s fundamental creative focus is on combining traditional handcraft processes with hi-tech digital technologies, such as 3D modeling and printing. Okuda’s mission is to expand the imagination and possibility of jewelry design. Communication with the human body is a significant part of his design process and he explores the various possibilities of the relationship between jewelry and fashion. Okuda aims to expand the meaning of jewelry design in the social sphere rather than just within the jewelry communities and industries.

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Okuda’s debut fashion collection at New York Fashion Week in September 2018 was a sensation and his next show at became a trending topic during New York Fashion Week SS19. From then, he started to receive countless reactions and inquiry requests include Rihanna, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Saweetie, Lady Gaga, Tory Lanez, Tommy Genesis, Aquaria, Kimbra, Brooke Candy, Shannon and Shannade Clermont Twins, Samirah Raheem, Nicola Formichetti, Avena Gallagher, Veronica Vega and more influential tastemakers such as Paper Magazine, Office Magazine, Novembre Magazine, Notion Magazine, Schon! Magazine and New York Post.

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Originally from Niigata Prefecture, JAPAN, he received his undergraduate degree in Jewelry Design with first class honors from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Further achievements include winning the grant-prix prize at the International Talent Support in Jewelry Category (Trieste, Italy) and receiving the scholarship from Swarovski Foundation (London, UK). In 2018, He received Master’s Degree in the MFA Fashion Design and Society from The Parsons New School, New York. He received Tomodachi-Uniqlo Fellowship Program (Uniqlo and US-Japan Embassy).

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