Junko Yoshioka is a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

based

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

known primarily for her

bridal wear A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo-Sa ...

. She has been the recipient of various awards and other recognitions, including first place (bridal) at the Millennium Designer Invitational (Tokyo 2000), and was named as one of the Top 100 Influential Japanese People in the World by Japanese ''Newsweek'' (2007). Born in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Junko Yoshioka began her career in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

studying in the Japanese design school, Mode Gakuen, and apprenticing for an Italian designer. While still a student, a wedding gown design of hers won first prize out of some 10,000 entrants in Tokyo's Creative Competition for Fashion Design. She then spent several years refining her craft in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, earning her master's degree at the

Marangoni Institute The Istituto Marangoni is a private Italian school of fashion and design. It is based in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy, and has branches in Florence, London and Paris, Shanghai and Shenzhen in China, Mumbai in India, and Miami in the Unite ...

, and designing for

MaxMara Max Mara (Italian aks 'ma:ra is an Italian fashion business. It markets up-market ready-to-wear clothing. It was established in 1951 in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti (7 January 1927 – 12 January 2005). In March 2008, the company had 2,2 ...

, Atsuro Tayama and Ante Prima. In 2002, Yoshioka moved to

and launched the Bonaparte-NY line of bridal gowns. Her styles have been featured in the pages of ''

InStyle ''InStyle'' was an American monthly women's fashion magazine founded in 1994. It was published in the United States by Dotdash Meredith. In February 2022, it was announced that InStyle would cease print publications and move to a digital-only ...

'', '' WWD'', ''New York'' magazine, and the leading bridal publications. Her signature design style encompasses sweeping

silhouettes A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

, asymmetrical cuts and unique hand-crafted details, often creating extra texture and dimension by juxtaposing

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

s with less traditional materials such as

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

References

US Magazine: Actress Helen Hunt in Junko Yoshioka gown

External links

Martha Stewart Weddings: Junko Yoshioka collection
Japanese women fashion designers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people {{Fashion-bio-stub