From The Straits Times    |

Photo: Owa Yurika

The label designer, Yuki Oshima, often incorporates the letters O, W and A (from the brand name) into her designs to trigger children’s imagination. “Little girls may see a person waving, or a sun and a mountain.”

 

Four years ago, while pregnant and shopping for baby stuff, Yuki Oshima noticed something about children’s wear. “Kid’s wear then was mostly frilly, princess-like,” says Oshima, 39. “I understand we should encourage our children to express their individuality from a young age, but how can they do that when there’s only one type of clothes for little girls?”

 

Photo: Owa Yurika

 

She didn’t want to encourage her daughter to be princess-y, so the former fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar Japan took things into her own hands by creating something entirely different with her mother, Yuriko Oshima, 66, a lauded colour consultant in Japan. That’s how London-based kid’s wear label Owa Yurika was born, offering Japanese-inspired pieces that are functional, not just pretty.

“We have jackets with parts that can be detached or added so you can, say, change the jacket’s length. We want our pieces to be functional – I think that’s quite a Japanese aesthetic,” says Oshima.

 

Photo: Owa Yurika

 

“Some of our designs are also inspired by Japanese school uniforms and traditional Japanese clothing like the kimono.”

As fans of Japanese manufacturing quality, the Oshimas produce the bulk of Owa Yurika’s clothing in Japan and source fabrics from all over the country. The denim they use, for example, is from Okayama prefecture, which is famed for this fabric.

 

Photo: Owa Yurika

 

The label’s clean designs have even made their way into the hearts – and wardrobes – of mothers.

“We get requests from mothers to do larger sizes; some of them actually buy the jackets for themselves. Right now, our clothes are for kids aged four to 12, but we are considering making them for up to age 14, so some adults can wear them as well. Clothes for boys, and accessories like bags and scarves, are also in the pipeline.”

Owa Yurika is available at Kids 21 at Forum The Shopping Mall. From $120 to $490 for the F/W collection.