June 24, 2021
#10 Roundtable
Haruka Sugihara is a Japanese-Belgian entrepreneur. She was raised in Belgium and moved to Japan after graduating at the University of Antwerp. In Tokyo she set her goal on reconnecting to her Japanese roots and representing her family history as the granddaughter of Sugihara Chiune with the Sugihara Foundation. Fashion design started out as a hobby motivated by her mother who is a jewelry designer and grandmother who was a couture seamstress. Inspired by the traditional Japanese fabrics and the movement towards a sustainable future for fashion, she launched her own contemporary fashion brand. Connecting old and new, east and west, RE:MONO aspires to bring awareness to both upcycling and the history of the traditional Japanese kimono whilst creating innovative and modern designs. RE:MONO’s mission is to bring new life to vintage and antique materials which are sourced in Japan and to bring awareness to the circularity and longevity of fashion.