From Tokyo to Turin, to Aarhus

NiiNu did not begin in one place.

It moved, slowly,
across cities,
across cultures,
shaped by each moment along the way.

Before leaving Tokyo,
I had already built a life in fashion.

I worked primarily as a shoe designer,
while also working professionally across different fields—
including clothing, textile design, and graphics.

There was a sense of accumulation,
of something steadily built over time.

When I moved to Turin after getting married,
I thought I would leave all of that behind.

I was ready to end my previous career
and begin a completely new life.

In a place where no one knew me,
I kept asking myself:
what can I do here?

Those years were uncertain,
and full of trial and error.

But somehow,
everything I tried kept leading me back
to the same place—
fashion.

It was not something I could separate from myself.

Then, about a year ago, in March,
I made a decision.

A quiet but firm one.

To fully commit.
To build something on my own,
from the ground up.

When I moved to Aarhus,
I decided to do everything myself—
step by step, piece by piece.

Once I made that decision,
things began to move quickly.

Not because it was easy,
but because it was clear.

And it is still continuing.