Exclusive interview with Kiko Kostadinov: I am very happy that everyone has established friendship through my design as a link.

As a designer lover who has been paying attention to the fashion industry since his graduation show and has become famous in the industry, Kiko Kostadinov himself never thought that his career would expand life so fast. After learning that he was INFJ-A by MBTI, he laughed and said, “I didn’t know what MBTI was before. Later I learned that this type of personality tends to affect the world more positively, but I didn’t understand. still, although I’m very interested in exploring it, but I’m too busy with design work at the moment!”

Among the various labels of Kiko Kostadinov, the most prominent identity is the image of a busy designer. Although more consumers are greatly impressed by the designer’s “hard to find” explosive product capabilities through the “sneakers” range, from the collaboration with ASICS in the early years to recent years, various clothing, When it comes to collaborations on shoes and even home furniture categories, are there any bottlenecks in Kiko Kostadinov’s design creation?

This time Kiko Kostadinov’s collaboration with the ASICS brand enters its sixth year, and the special product line Novalis was born. During the Shanghai Fashion Week, Kiko Kostadinov came to Shanghai in person and presented the latest collaborative shoe-GEL-STYRAX at the Novalis series conference. It also provided a fun playground-like installation site to interact with users.

This time, Hypebeast held a face-to-face conversation with Kiko Kostadinov in Shanghai, giving you a deep understanding of the inner world of this creative and self-directed designer.

Hypebeast: Hello Kiko, nice to meet you in Shanghai! You are getting more attention in the fashion world and growing as a designer. Can you describe how you have changed and grown in your design thinking and approach?

Kiko Kostadinov: Hello Hypebeast, I’m honored to talk with you here too! My career has progressed very quickly, so it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long – and I haven’t had a chance to look back at my work history. Therefore, I have been trying to keep the mentality of “just graduated from school” when I work. In the process, there will be many surprises and I can continue to learn new things.

I just want the original intention to design and create as much as possible in the studio with my team. I don’t consider myself a “creative director,” more like a designer who wants to be involved in every aspect. Our brand is still very unique, there are not many sales channels, and we don’t even have big expansion plans (currently we have only opened one offline store in Tokyo, and we will open a second one in Los Angeles later). to spend our time on planning instead of expanding business. But everyone knows that when you have your own brand, you will have this kind of challenge.

Hypebeast: Being so involved in the design process, how do you find the right partners to bring a shared vision to fruition?

Kiko Kostadinov: I meet many people who like to spend a lot of time talking about projects rather than implementing them themselves. I prefer to experience and try more hands-on work, less email responses and online meetings. If partners understand this model, it usually works out well because the biggest challenge – finding the right partner – is resolved. Take ASICS for example, for the last six years they have always allowed me to do what I think is right and that freedom is very important to me.

Hypebeast: Your latest collaboration with ASICS, the Novalis series, seems to be coming at the right time. How is this season of Novalis different from the previous ones? How do you embody the ASICS concept of “Sound Mind, Sound Body”?

Kiko Kostadinov: I don’t want to completely change the design language of the previous seasons, because we spent a lot of time polishing the silhouette of this series and changing it to the most suitable level. These small details continue to evolve and help us create new designs. We’ve decided to do seasons 4 and 5 next, so there will be a lot of continuity in the design.

The concept of this season is to present the concept of “Sound Mind, Sound Body” through visual meditation. I believe it will be a unique experience to see how Novalis clothing can be integrated into everyday life and even integrated with the main products of our brand.

Hypebeast: Kiko Kostadinov’s products – both main line and collaborations – have a certain beauty. How do you keep innovating and being creative while maintaining brand identity?

Kiko Kostadinov: Of course, every brand has a signature design language that they want to present each season, and this is especially evident on the show. That’s when I get to showcase the brand’s signature designs. We want to differentiate between other brands in this way, something like “living in an area. ”

For those who want to understand our brand design language, our silhouette, details and structure are key elements. We will apply some important design elements from the main line products in the collaboration models, and slightly change the cuts and styles in the design of the main line products to continue the development of the series. At the same time, we must also ensure that there are some classic and established products, so that the design language of the brand is not limited by time.

Our design is still very “authentic”. I can change design thinking as I like – go more commercial, scale up or down. I can change the entire collection the day before the show, or I can show it to just five people. I don’t have a product manager or a commercial director telling me what to do, it’s all very personal and that makes the design more interesting.

Hypebeast: What is the idea behind OTTO 958, another creative project you co-founded with your friends? What is your vision for the future?

Kiko Kostadinov: This is really a small project between me and my friend Al Moran. He has a gallery in Los Angeles, Morán Morán, and I held an exhibition there during the pandemic. At first we just made T-shirts and display fringes. This project is still ongoing and there are many possibilities for the future, as we have good resources both in the world of fashion and art, but at the moment there is no time to enough to focus on. Next, OTTO 958 will also launch a collaboration model with ASICS, which will be sold in our stores in Tokyo and Los Angeles. We want to keep a low profile because when it becomes a “business” it becomes too analyzed and calculated.

Hypebeast: Let’s talk a little more about your personal life – what’s your MBTI?

Kiko Kostadinov: I am INFJ-A. Someone asked me this question in Korea, and I didn’t know what MBTI was at that time. I know that this type of personality tends to have a more positive impact on the world, but I haven’t realized it yet, and although I’m interested in exploring it, I’m too busy with design work right now!

Hypebeast: Are there any subcultures you’ve been interested in lately? Do these serve as sources of inspiration for you?

Kiko Kostadinov: Actually, there are not many real subcultures anymore. The specific culture that interests me is mostly related to past times. As for today’s subcultures, they are often very unique and hardly appear on the Internet, and you have to find them in person. I recently watched flat wrestling online and it was very interesting. The inspiration actually comes from my daily research on these cultural phenomena which takes a lot of time to find new and interesting ideas.

Hypebeast: Do you know that you have many loyal fans in China?

Kiko Kostadinov: I know (laughs). I try not to pay too much attention to avoid my ego. I will hear a little from the team, but I will feel it more personally on the trip. It’s the same in New York and Korea, and in Shanghai we even ran into some fans wearing our brand and they were very happy to see us. We hope to return to Shanghai soon.

Hypebeast: Is this your first time in Shanghai? How does it feel?

Kiko Kostadinov: Yes, this is my first time in Shanghai. I think it’s really fun to have offline events here. Every time I go somewhere else, I’m happy to talk to the locals. What is more interesting to me is that some people have gotten to know each other through buying our designs, creating a small community and even making friends. It feels great because we have experienced something similar – connecting with friends by buying different designer brands. Even though you are very different, it feels good to have a friendship through a brand connection. I hope we can spend more time in Shanghai next time to experience the atmosphere.

Hypebeast: Do you have any specific plans for the Chinese market that you can share with Hypebeast readers?

Kiko Kostadinov: I think we will definitely come back. We went to a lot of places this year and maybe next year it will slow down a bit. We also have some sales partners in China who showcase a lot of our work on social media. So maybe we’ll do something here in the future. After all, it is not easy to come here If you are flying here just for an event, it will be very hard.

Kiko Kostadinov’s first visit to Shanghai left a lot of marks on social media through fan charts. How will he and his team present their unique design aesthetic in the Chinese market in the future? Maybe we’ll look forward to it together too.