Asato Kitamura, born in 1996 in Ishikawa, Japan, grew up surrounded by creativity, influenced by the women in his family. He studied fashion in Tokyo, then honed his skills in London and Paris before relocating to New York in 2020, where he worked with leading fashion houses like 3.1 Phillip Lim and MELITTA BAUMEISTER. In 2022, after earning his MFA from Parsons, he launched his brand ASATO, rooted in emotional depth, imperfection, and psychological healing through fashion. Deeply influenced by Japanese spiritual philosophy and aesthetics, his work seeks to create garments that resonate not only with the body but with the soul. To him, fashion is an art form that can embrace people both physically and emotionally—offering dignity to the negative and beauty to what is often hidden.