Yoshio Kubo

Japanese Name

久保嘉男

Romanized Name

Kubo Yoshio

Profile

Age

50

Birthday

July 25, 1974^[1]

Birthplace

Osaka^[1]

Gender

Nationality

Japanese

Occupation

Men's Fashion Designer
Costume Designer

Other Information

Relationships
Shinobu Kubo (Wife)

Media

Website

Official Website
Instagram
YouTube

Yoshio Kubo (久保嘉男, Kubo Yoshio) is a Japanese men's clothing and fashion designer. He is credited as the costume designer for the live-action JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood musical.

Biography

Yoshio Kubo was raised in Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan. He used to play the Japanese card game Menko and would often go to the candy store to buy snacks. His grandfather was a fisherman in Owase^[2] and his mother was a seamstress. Kubo went to Philadelphia to study English, wanting to have a career in film as it was around the time MTV was huge and he thought that would be the next big career path. However, while wondering what to study in college, he recalled his mother's career and saw there was a fashion department so he decided to give it a try.^[3] Kubo graduated from the Fashion Design Department at Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science in 1999.^[4]^[5]

Afterward, he worked in New York doing an apprenticeship under haute couture designer Robert Danes, participating in the creation of all collections presented by Danes over four years. Upon returning to Japan, he launched his collection under the brand "yoshiokubo", debuting with the 2005 S/S season.^[5]

Kubo's biggest inspirations are Ramo Nakajima, Matthew Barney, and Muhammad Ali. In high school, Kubo had seen Ramo Nakajima on TV, but only thought of him as a "strange person." However, when a trusted friend praised the stage performance of Nakajima's acting company, Lilliput Army, Kubo became interested and borrowed Nakajima's book Tonight, in All the Bars, a novel based on Nakajima's experiences with alcohol addiction. He often read Nakajima's works on flights between Japan and the U.S. while he was studying fashion in America, wondering how Nakajima came up with his thoughts. He strongly felt that he wanted his own designs to be seen in a fresh way, and that he needed to see things from a completely different angle. Although he couldn't fully relate to Nakajima's writing as the author had an alcohol and drug addiction, Kubo admired Nakajima's unique perspective at the time. Kubo encountered Matthew Barney's work in New York, after starting his first job. Working with his mentor, he happened to see Barney's work at the Whitney Museum and was struck by his attention to detail and the unique atmosphere in his works. Kubo admires Muhammad Ali's style, memorable quotes, and presence on camera. He has watched several fight videos, movies, collected Ali-related items, and even named his second daughter after the boxer.^[6]