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Satomi Ito

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The native form of this personal name is Itō Satomi. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Satomi Ito
伊藤 聡美
Born (1988-05-31) May 31, 1988 (age 36)
Chiba City, Chiba, Japan
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Fashion and costume designer
Years active2013–present
Websitesatomi-ito.com

Satomi Ito (伊藤 聡美, Itō Satomi, born May 31, 1988) is a Japanese fashion and costume designer known for her works in the sports of figure skating as well as artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, equestrian vaulting, ballet, and ballroom dance. Inspired by the dresses and skating performances of three-time World champion Mao Asada, Ito has designed costumes for multiple renowned figure skaters from Japan and overseas, including a series of more than 30 costumes for two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, which has been featured in multiple exhibitions and publications in Japan. Two of her works for Hanyu were nominated at the 2020 and 2023 ISU Skating Awards in the category Best Costume, respectively.

Early life and education

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Satomi Ito was born on May 31, 1988, in Chiba City east of Tokyo to a Japanese father and a Thai mother.[1] In her childhood, she aimed to become a comic artist, author or screenwriter.[2] Influenced by her mother who was working as a tailor, Ito found a new interest in fashion design and attended a high school with a clothing department.[1] In 2007, she entered the Faculty for Fashion and Creativity at Esmod Japon in Tokyo. At that time, she was following figure skating events as a hobby, but her focus was on fashion design, naming Alexander McQueen and John Galliano as her role models. In 2008, Ito won her first major prize at the Kobe Fashion Contest.[3] After graduating from Esmod, she moved to England to study at Nottingham Trent University School of Art and Design. While in Japan the focus was more on the technical aspects of design, in England she learned the "importance of concept-making and presentation skills", with more emphasis on the creation process. These experiences have shaped Ito's approach towards fashion and costume design.[2]

Designer career

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Beginnings and success at the 2018 Winter Olympics

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Refer to caption
Mao Asada in her free skate program The Bell at the 2010 World Championships

After her graduation from Nottingham Trent University, Ito aimed for an internship in England or Paris. However, due to visa issues, she was forced to return to Japan. It was then that a figure skating video of three-time World champion Mao Asada encouraged Ito to pursue a career in costume design.[4] It was Asada's red dress for her free skate program The Bell at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver that impressed and inspired Ito as a designer.[5] However, skating costumes were a very specific sector with few experienced designers and rather little revenue, which made it difficult for Ito to focus solely on figure skating.[4] She joined the Japanese manufacturer company Chacott [ja] in Tokyo with a specialization in costume design for ballet and other performing arts.[3][6] In 2013, Ito got her first request in figure skating from Japanese single skater Haruka Imai. The costumes were well received by the skating community and led to more collaborations, including her first client from overseas, Russian single skater Elena Radionova.[4][7]

In 2015, Ito became independent and has since designed a variety of costumes for figure skating, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics,[2][8]: 2  equestrian vaulting, ballet, and ballroom dance.[9]: 2 [10] The same year, she received her first request from Japanese skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu.[2] It was the longest collaboration of Ito's career in the following decade,[11][12] creating more than 30 different costumes for him by August 2023.[13] In an interview with figure skating journalist Jack Gallagher in 2022, she explained how her skills have notably "improved through the experience of working with Hanyu."[2] The culmination of her career followed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, with Hanyu winning the gold and fellow Japanese skater Shoma Uno the silver medal in the men's singles discipline. Both skaters performed in costumes created by Ito, which proved very gratifying to her: "When I was watching the live performance, I wasn’t able to stay calm and relaxed because I was worried about the costumes. The only thing running through my head was, 'Congratulations and thank you for wearing my costumes.' "[2]

Exhibitions and award nominations after 2018

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Refer to caption
Yuzuru Hanyu in his free skate program Origin at the 2019–20 Grand Prix Final

Over the following years, the number of requests steadily increased to 40–50 orders per season,[3][14] making Ito one of the most sought-after costume designers in figure skating.[4] Among her clients were two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva, Four Continents champions Jin Boyang, Satoko Miyahara, Mai Mihara, and Rika Kihira as well as World Junior champions Marin Honda, Vincent Zhou, and Tomoki Hiwatashi.[15][16] However, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted Ito's career in 2020, as she did not receive any requests from March to May as usual.[17] In March 2020, the first compilation book of Ito's works, titled Figure Skating Art Costumes, was published by the Japanese company Kadokawa.[2][18] At the 2020 ISU Skating Awards, her costume for Hanyu's free skate program Origin from the 2019–20 season was nominated in the category Best Costume. It was the second version of the costume, with a change in design and color scheme of the top from black to purple.[19] The same year, Ito created multiple costumes for athletes who participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, including artistic gymnast Aiko Sugihara and rhythmic gymnast Sumire Kita from Japan.[5][8]: 2 

For the 2021–22 season, the number of costume requests reached a new peak with 60–70 orders from Japan and overseas, including the Olympic costumes for Yuma Kagiyama, Wakaba Higuchi, and ice dance team Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi.[3] Ito's costume for Hanyu's Olympic short program Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso was nominated for Best Costume at the 2023 ISU Skating Awards.[20] On July 15, 2022, as the result of a fan vote, a replica of Hanyu's purple Origin costume was put on display on his wax figure at the Madame Tussauds museum in Tokyo.[21] The same year, Ito eventually got the opportunity for a collaboration with Mao Asada and created four costumes for her touring ice show Beyond.[9][22] For Hanyu, who turned professional in July 2022, Ito contributed five new costumes to his solo shows Prologue and Gift with the latter featuring 11 of Ito's works in total,[9][22] presented in front of a record audience of 35,000 spectators at Tokyo Dome.[23][24] On the 10th anniversary of Ito's designer career in 2023, a figure skating costume exhibition was held in Tokyo from July 24 to August 6 and in Kyoto from August 11 to 27, with a special postcard book of Hanyu's costumes being sold in advance at the Tokyo venue.[11][25]

List of collaborations

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Figure skating

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Selection of figure skating costumes designed by Ito

Male skaters

Female skaters

Other collaborations

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Publications

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  • Ito, Satomi (March 31, 2020). Figure Skating Art Costumes (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Future Publishing. ISBN 978-4046044631.
  • — (April 18, 2022). Muse on Ice (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: G.B. Corporation. ISBN 978-4910428154.
  • — (August 2, 2023a). Yuzuru Hanyu's Costumes made by Satomi Ito (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Two Virgins Publishing. ISBN 978-4910352831.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e 衣装デザイナー伊藤聡美 [Costume designer Satomi Ito]. 7Rules (in Japanese). Kita-ku, Osaka: Kansai Telecasting Corporation. January 8, 2019. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Gallagher, Jack (August 20, 2022). "Designer Satomi Ito Making Her Mark with Innovative Costumes for Top Skaters". Japan Forward. Chiyoda, Tokyo: Sankei Shimbun. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Hanami, Isogimi (February 8, 2022). 羽生結弦ら五輪出場5選手の衣装を担当 – デザイナー伊藤聡美に聞くフィギュア衣装制作の裏側 [In charge of the costumes for Yuzuru Hanyu and five other Olympic athletes: Behind the scenes of figure costume production with designer Satomi Ito]. WWD Japan (in Japanese). Minato, Tokyo: Infas Publications, Inc. Archived from the original on February 8, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Matsubara, Takaomi (October 13, 2020). 衣装デザイナー・伊藤聡美が選手から熱望される理由 – フィギュアスケートを彩る人々（第1回） [Why costume designer Satomi Ito is eagerly sought after by athletes – People who color figure skating (Part 1)]. Japan Business Press (in Japanese). Minato, Tokyo. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c きっかけは浅田真央の感動演技! 衣装デザイナーの碧い「自分は衣装で感動を与えたい」 [The trigger was Mao Asada's impressive performance! Costume designer's pledge: "I want to impress with my costumes"]. TV Asahi (in Japanese). Minato, Tokyo. July 14, 2020. Archived from the original on May 21, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d コスチューム・ワールド第1回・伊藤聡美選(前編) [Costume World (edition 1) – Satomi Ito (part 1)]. World Figure Skating (in Japanese). Bunkyo, Tokyo: Shinshokan. April 10, 2023. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on April 10, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Ice Jewels 2020, p. 81–84.
  8. ^ a b c Yanai, Yumiko (August 8, 2022). 現役生活に"一区切り"...女子体操の立役者・杉原愛子22歳はいま何してる?「練習と学生の指導も。コーチの大変さを実感しています」 [A "break" in active life ... What is 22-year-old Aiko Sugihara, a leading figure in women's gymnastics, doing at the moment? "Practicing and coaching students, I know how hard it is to be a coach"]. Number (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Bungeishunjū. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c コスチューム・ワールド第1回・伊藤聡美選(後編) [Costume World (edition 1) – Satomi Ito (part 2)]. World Figure Skating (in Japanese). Bunkyo, Tokyo: Shinshokan. April 11, 2023. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023.
  10. ^ 「選手のためだけに衣装をつくりたい」羽生結弦らを担当するデザイナー 伊藤聡美のフィギュアスケートへの想い ["I want to make costumes just for the athletes" Designer Satomi Ito, who is in charge of Yuzuru Hanyu and others, thinks about figure skating]. Fashion Tech News (in Japanese). Chiba City: Zozo Next Inc. September 28, 2022. Archived from the original on September 28, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g 羽生結弦らの衣装を展示するコスチューム展を開催、羽生選手にフォーカスを当てた書籍の販売も [A costume exhibition will be held to display the costumes of Yuzuru Hanyu and others, and books focusing on Hanyu will also be sold]. Fashionsnap (in Japanese). Shinjuku, Tokyo: Reco Orlando Co., Ltd. June 23, 2023. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023.
  12. ^ Ito 2021, ch. 2.
  13. ^ Ito 2023a.
  14. ^ 人気デザイナーに聞いてみた！衣装から見たフィギュアの魅力 [We asked a popular designer! The charm of figure skating seen through the costume]. NHK (in Japanese). Shibuya, Tokyo. November 16, 2020. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Ito 2020, p. 2–3.
  16. ^ a b "Tomoki Hiwatashi going all out to make Beijing Olympics". The Japan Times. Chiyoda, Tokyo. December 3, 2019. ISSN 0447-5763. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022.
  17. ^ Matsubara, Takaomi (October 20, 2020). 羽生結弦の難題にも応える衣装デザイナーの底力 – フィギュアスケートを彩る人々（第3回） [The underlying power of a costume designer to meet Yuzuru Hanyu's challenges – People who color figure skating (Part 3)]. Japan Business Press (in Japanese). Minato, Tokyo. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023.
  18. ^ Ito 2020.
  19. ^ "ISU Skating Awards 2020 - Best Costume". International Skating Union. Lausanne. 2020. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023.
  20. ^ "The ISU Skating Awards 2023". International Skating Union. Lausanne. 2023. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023.
  21. ^ 羽生結弦の人気ナンバーワン衣装は? 等身大フィギュアが15日から公開 [What is the most popular costume of Yuzuru Hanyu? Life-size figure to be released on 15th]. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). Koto-ku, Tokyo. July 12, 2022. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022.
  22. ^ a b Ito, Satomi (2023b). "Works". satomi-ito.com (in Japanese). Tokyo. Archived from the original on October 29, 2023.
  23. ^ Matsubara, Takaomi (February 28, 2023). 「日本代表、羽生結弦――」東京ドーム公演中に行った緊迫の"6分間練習"...3万5000人の前でつかんだ"夢"「まだまだつかみきれていない夢も...」 ["Japan representative, Yuzuru Hanyu" tense "6-minute practice" held during Tokyo Dome performance ... "Dreams" grasped in front of 35,000 people: "There are still many dreams that I have not grasped ..."]. Number (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Bungeishunjū. pp. 1–4. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023.
  24. ^ "Figure skating hero Hanyu Yuzuru to start gaming-inspired 'RE_PRAY' solo ice tour in Saitama". International Olympic Committee. Lausanne. September 4, 2023. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023.
  25. ^ Wang, Tingshu; Patton, Dominique (December 22, 2021). "Chinese designer enjoys Olympic boost for figure skating costumes". Reuters. London, United Kingdom. Archived from the original on October 28, 2023.
  26. ^ Takaba, Mizuho (November 1, 2017). 羽生がこだわり抜いた陰陽師衣装、今も修正制作秘話 [Hanyu's carefully selected Onmyoji costume, still a secret behind the modification process]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ito, Satomi. "Official account" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 28, 2023 – via Instagram.
  28. ^ a b c d e Matsubara, Takaomi (October 15, 2020). 伊藤聡美が語る衣装に込められたそれぞれの「物語」– フィギュアスケートを彩る人々（第2回） [Satomi Ito talks about the "stories" behind the costumes – People who color figure skating (Part 2)]. Japan Business Press (in Japanese). Minato, Tokyo. Archived from the original on April 2, 2023.
  29. ^ Weiler, Ean (2023). "Media Library". eanweiler.com. Bülach. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023.

Books and magazines cited

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