Junko Shimada

At the end of her studies at the Sujino Gajen Dressmaker Institute in Tokyo, Junko Shimada visited Paris and fell in love with the city.

She was one of the first Japanese designer to decide to live and work there in the 1960´s. After working for the MAFIA team, she joined CACHAREL as the designer for kidswear, and then for menswear. In 1981, she decided to launch her own label and opened her first Paris store, rue Etienne Marcel, in 1984. She is undoubtfully “the most parisian japonese”. Her work is focused on very feminine shapes and is close to Haute Couture, although easy to wear. Japonese creativity meets french supreme elegance. In Japan, she runs over 20 stores of her own and is also in charge of numerous licences of accessory lines, men and women ready to wear.