Threads of Beauty 1995–2025 Yuriko Takagi

Yuriko Takagi studied graphic design at Musashino Art University in Tokyo before honing her fashion design skills at Trent Polytechnic in the UK.

Having long contemplated human existence through the lens of clothing and the human body, her photobook Threads of Beauty brings together a series capturing people around the world who wear traditional ethnic garments in their daily lives.

This volume features approximately 200 photographs selected from her vast archive. Crossing geographic boundaries and eras, the imagery seamlessly connects from page to page, evoking a sense of expansive travel and the quiet passage of time. What is captured here is not merely the attire itself, but the living presence of the people who inhabit these garments. Interwoven with natural light, local climate, subtle expressions, and everyday gestures, the ethnic clothing emerges not as simple fashion, but as culture, history, and a way of life itself.

Reaching beyond a mere documentation of traditional costume, this book invites us to reconsider the fundamental relationship between human beings and what they wear.