h.NAOTO Opens U.S. store site
h.NAOTO recently opened a new U.S. store! You can find it here: http://www.hnaotousa.com. Your favorite h.NAOTO fashions can be found at the site, so check it out!

h.NAOTO & SUGIZO Collaboration
We’re especially pleased to help announce the collaboration between h.NAOTO and SUGIZO on new Goth fashion. As many of you are aware, h.NAOTO has worked with many musicians, including YOSHIKI, GACKT, HYDE; mor as h.ISM project. There will be a celebration event and fashion show at Sixh. Harajuku store on Tuesday, December 28th.

About h.NAOTO
h.NAOTO is the heart of the gothic-lolita fashion brand that has started an international movement since year 2000. h.NAOTO positively integrates the otaku-oriented cool Japanese culture including gothic-lolita, punk, visual-kei, costume-play, and anime into fashion, and is a revolutionary brand that has transformed ordinary clothing fashion to characteristic/costume-like fashion.

The creative designer of h.NAOTO, Naoto Hirooka was born in 1977 in Hyogo Prefecture. After being graduated from Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, he entered S-inc Co. Ltd. in 1999. In 2000, his brand “h.NAOTO” made its debut.

Resonating to the ideas of extreme “punk,” he expanded his unique fashion views while incorporating Japanese subcultures such as gothic-lolita and visual-kei. The collections, filled with originality, gained much positive critiques and praises from Japan and overseas artists and musicians, and earned many hard-core fans.

In addition, h.NAOTO’s influences extends beyond the world of fashion; it has also reached out to music, movies, manga, anime, video games, dolls, pro-wrestling, and art, diversifying its creative design activities.

In 2005, the subdivision with the theme of the co-existence of fashion and art – “hEAVEN” was started. Then, the category brands multiplied into new brands in collaborations with young designers, including ‘SIXh.”, “GRAMM,” “HANGRY&ANGRY,” etc. Currently the “hEAVEN” project is a place where the total production for new fashions takes place.

Additionally, the creative collaborations with international, charismatic artists have impacted the music industry; currently the project of visual direction for visual-kei artists, called ‘h.ism” has been progressing actively.

In 2008, with its participation in the Tokyo Collection marking the beginning, h.NAOTO’s new project “NAOTO7” has started. With the 2008 “Kotsuban (Pelvis)” series with the themes of procreation and sex, and the “Tsumi to Batsu (Crime and Punishment)” series themed with eros and Tanatos spanning from 2009 to 2010, the brand has expanded from its core image of “gothic” to focusing on the deep, dramatic qualities of the relations between mankind and society and fashion.

h.NAOTO CATEGORY COLLECTION 2010

The 2010 projected images of h.NAOTO’s category brands.

ANARCHY — Gothic-style avant garde punk
The core theme of h.NAOTO – destruction, violence, death, and sex!
The fusion of extreme and decadent punk culture with fashion.

BLOOD — Gothic-style black elegance
A sacred h.NAOTO gothic world that transcends time.
A fashion collection of aesthetic fantasy woven in black and white.

DARK RED RUM — Gothic-style occult mode
The curse of the devil lurking in the world of the dead. The occult world filled with fear and shudder.
The deep, horrific world of h.NAOTO.

FRILL — Gothic-style white Lolita.
The pure white dresses of the lovely, dreamy girls. The angels gently descending from the sky…
A Lolita world distinctive amongst the h.NAOTO brands.

NAOTO7 — Gothic-style art mode
Started in 2008, this creative fashion collection represents the cutting edge h.NAOTO.
Starting with the “Kotsuban” and “Tsumi to Batsu” series, a concept theme is decided annually, and it is highly experimental with arts and breaks away from the usual fashion ways of thinking.
The “7” in “NAOTO7” is derived from the Seven Sins.