MILAN — Setchu is expanding into fragrances.
The brainchild of Japanese, Milan-based designer Satoshi Kuwata, the brand has been named special guest of the upcoming edition of Pitti Fragranze, the Florence-based trade show dedicated to niche perfumery, which is scheduled to run Sept. 12 to 14 at the Stazione Leopolda location.
The move further builds on Kuwata’s ties with the Italian city and the Pitti Immagine organization, as it follows his attendance as guest designer of Pitti Uomo’s edition in January, when he staged his brand’s inaugural runway show.
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This time the winner of the 2023 LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers will unveil Setchu Perfume. The project will debut with a set of five fragrances created in collaboration with Mane’s master perfumer Julie Massé, each respecting the brand’s signature blend of East and West.
“I wanted to capture that intimate, profound scent that accompanies each of us in the ritual of personal hygiene, when there’s time and no rush. Something moving and pure, fresh, crystalline, immaculate, that evokes childhood,” said Kuwata about his new venture. “I set out to find the scents of both Eastern and Western bathing rituals, to bring back those sensations tied to care and nurturing. I thought of Sunday mornings, of a slow and fluid time, of the quiet joy of parental care. To each element, I associated a day of the week.”
Each fragrance will be christened with a name featuring a day of the week, a moment in the day and an element of Japanese tradition. Examples include “Monday 9 Am | Genmaicha,” referring to green tea blended with toasted rice; “Wednesday 5 Pm | Yuzu,” referencing the citrus fruit traditionally used in both cooking and ceremonial baths during the winter season, and “Friday 2 Am | Tatami,” evoking the element that represents a symbol of home for Kuwata and a recurrent prop in his fashion presentations.
The scents’ packaging will also nod to the designer’s roots with its minimal cube shape inspired by tea boxes.
“In Japanese, the term Setchu defines a point of balance between Japanese and Western cultures, two different worlds that Satoshi brings together and sets in dialogue, that he composes, first in fashion, and now in fragrance,” said Francesca Tacconi, special event coordinator of Pitti Immagine.
“His fragrance collection evokes, through both its names and olfactory notes, the rituals of everyday life, familiar gestures filled with emotion and nostalgia: for a stream, a piece of wood or a fish. Each scent is linked to a moment in the day, to an act of care or pleasure. Sensual, romantic, mature, childlike, abstract, tactile — beyond gender,” added Tacconi, teasing that with Setchu, Pitti Immagine is “launching a series of presentations dedicated to the intersection of artistic perfumery and fashion design.”
An industry veteran who has worked for several fashion labels, Kuwata has been praised for his languid tailoring and workwear-inspired garb, fusing Japanese and Western concepts into transformative and functional pieces like foldable jackets in origami-like constructions or designs morphing shape and fit via a profusion of zippers, snap buttons and buttons.
Kuwata was born in Kyoto and moved to London at age 21 to pursue a career in fashion. He launched his unisex label in 2020 after cutting his teeth at Huntsman in Savile Row during his studies at Central Saint Martins; Gareth Pugh in London; Kanye West and Givenchy in Paris; Edun in New York City, and Golden Goose in Milan. In 2023 Kuwata was also the recipient of the grant of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana Fashion Trust.
After his runway debut in Florence, the designer stuck with the format by staging a runway show during Milan Fashion Week last month to parade his spring 2026 collection.