ato is a Japanese fashion brand founded in 1993 by designer Ataru Matsumoto in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo. Starting with menswear, it introduced a womenswear line for Fall/Winter 2003 and produces clothing as well as shoes, bags, hats, accessories, and other items. The brand regards the body as a symbol of individuality, places great emphasis on patternmaking, and centers its approach to clothing on making every item using three-dimensional cutting. Its practice of crediting the patternmaker on each garment is also a distinctive feature. It presented a collection in Paris for Spring/Summer 2000 and has since expanded in Japan and internationally.
Concept
ato regards the body as a symbol of individuality and approaches clothing with careful attention to each pattern. It makes all of its items using three-dimensional cutting because it views form as design and aims for silhouettes that draw attention to the individuality of the body. Its approach to making clothing is based on the idea of bringing out each person’s individuality, without drawing a line according to masculinity or femininity.