Akira Isogawa is one of Australia's most distinctive and respected contemporary designers. Born in Japan, he immigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1986 where he began designing for fashion. Isogawa's first collection was launched in 1994 and two years later at the inaugural Mercedes Australian Fashion Week his spring/summer 1996-97 collection received major attention and critical acclaim. Isogawa's particular design sensibility draws upon the costume and textile traditions of his native Japanese heritage and reinterprets them according to the more relaxed influences of Australian attitudes and environment.