This article appeared in Tokyo Weekender Vol. 2. To read the entire issue, click here .
On YouTube, you can watch Reiko McNish Sato go about her daily life: in and out of cars, stylish and assured, shooting smiles to the camera between a flurry of meetings, interviews, recording sessions for her podcast, consultations, fittings and events. On Instagram, she models her own designs against a variety of pristine backdrops and offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into her creative process. It’s a lifestyle that telegraphs as enviable and aspirational, but McNish Sato never hides the fact that it’s really, really a lot of work.
The CEO-slash-designer is building an empire focused on modern Japanese design, though such a concise explanation belies the scope of her ambition — having started with Amateras, a loungewear brand that she built from the ground up, she’s since embarked on a wide variety of new ventures to elevate Japanese culture, both at home and abroad. Along the way, she has a message she hopes to spread to young people in her home country: You can do this, too, but you have to be willing to take some risks. In person, McNish Sato is slight yet commanding.
She pulses with quiet intensity, speaking softly and carefully, occasionally pausing at length to formulate her answer. She gives the impression of being intently contemplative, listening closely and making near-constant eye contact. At first, she seems reserved, but as our conversation progresses, I realize that.
