Nearly one year after the opening of our Ginza flagship, Tory commissioned local Japanese artist Hanako Yoshida to create two of her signature abstract pieces — seen above — to hang at the store location. Here, we caught up with the painter to learn more about her process.

I knew I had to be an artist when…

I saw various art in various spaces in Japan and I often felt a strong sense of incongruity as to why artists are not conscious of space. “The space and the work do not match! Why?” If I think now, it was a question that was too simple, but at that time I thought so purely.

My father is a painter and my mother is an interior designer. There were always architects, artists and designers in my mother’s atelier, so I had many opportunities to come in contact with them. For me, life and art were very close.

My signature style…

Planar composition with mixed media. 

My preferred medium…

I’m trying a lot of different things. I don’t think I’ve met my favorite art materials yet.

I draw inspiration from…

From a memory; impression of a certain place; time; person… An abstract image comes up and the image is faithfully drawn.

The story behind this piece in the Ginza shop is…

When I visited the Tory Burch Ginza store, I felt like I was invited into a home… The hanging scrolls (kakejiku) are usually displayed in the Japanese traditional room, but this time I thought it would be nice if they could be hung on the stair landing. We used “Japanese ancient colors” and materials from the Edo era.

 If I could work anywhere in the world…

I want to draw in the Swiss Alps. I still remember the sight and impression I had when I was a kid — I was very impressed.

Three guests at a dinner party…

Mother Teresa

Grandmother

Joseph Beuys

 Favorite place to travel…

Kyoto Amanohashidate

Swiss “Therme Vals” designed by Peter Zumthor

Sri Lanka Jeffrey Bawa hotel tour