For NIGO, creative inspiration is "like catching air"

Featured image—of an SG-100 graphic equalizer, Aurex stereo amplifier model and Aurex AT-1000MK II audio digital timer from the collection of Japanese artist, designer, musician and creative director NIGO—is reproduced from new release NIGO: From Japan with Love, published to accompany the current exhibition at The Design Museum, London. Collecting key items and ephemera from NIGO’s personal collection—from childhood toys to iconic post-war American streetwear to his own designs for A Bathing Ape, Kenzo, Nike, Nintendo and other brands—this 224-page paperback documents the deep-cut cultural references that informed one of the most influential designers across contemporary culture. This stereo system, for example, belonged to NIGO’s brother. “It’s like catching air,” he says of the creative process. “Not an easy thing to define!”

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Published by The Design Museum, 2026

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