Literally coming from the land of Osaka, Asuka Osaka pursues fashion design for the very first time at University of California Irvine. Even though she has only been studying abroad for half a year, she does not hesitate to become involved on campus by joining the Fashion Interest Group and participating in the annual fashion show as a fashion designer.
Osaka states that her fashion icon is ultimately Audrey Hepburn. When asked why, she explains that Audrey has an amazing way of turning her weak points into her strongest assets. Her love for Audrey can be seen in her style, which she describes as classy yet casual. However, Audrey’s monochromatic color scheme is not seen in Osaka’s wardrobe. Osaka leans more towards pastel palettes with soft hues such as beige and pink. This ties into her Japanese background, as she correlates the soft colors of her clothes with the cherry blossoms back home. Yet, after moving to California, she starts to mix her former Japanese style with Californian style. She states that the main difference between Japanese style and Californian style is that Californian style is more casual with a large amount of t-shirts and crop tops. In Japan, the styles are more versatile and not very common. However, she manages to mix both cultures into one with her eclectic fashion. Basically, she has the best of both worlds.
Even though the fashion design process seems daunting and arduous at first, Osaka says that it’s quite simple if you have inspiration. She constantly searches for new ideas by watching movies and reading magazines. Then, she sketches out her designs and patterns and starts making samples. After that, is the sewing and actual manual labor. Even though this is her first time with design, her experience is convincing enough for her to pursue a career involved in fashion. Her dream job is working at Chanel as either a designer or a buyer for the company. She plans to move back to Japan after this school year, but she intends to travel as much as she can and observe the world of fashion from a global standpoint.