Atelier Delphine was founded by Yuka Izutsu in March 2011 out of a desire to communicate a personal aesthetic and craft romantic loungewear for the modern woman made for curling up, settling in, and celebrating leisure. Evergreen styles include standout kimono jackets, dolman sleeves draped to perfection and easy dresses.
With collections executed in muted colors and the highest quality fabrics, Delphine’s pieces are meant to serve as a sanctuary from trend-driven fast fashion - a seamless and complimentary addition to Phosphene. Read on to learn more about founder Yuka, her world travels and inspiration and her commitment to honoring the craftsmakers behind her garments.
Founder Yuka in her home studio. Photo: Echo Park Craft Fair.
Yuka Izutsu has developed a design language which is a form of storytelling – a way of expressing the texture and depth of our personal histories, while also allowing for the lightness of touch which gives life its playfulness and grace.
Yuka did not pursue a traditional training in fashion design. Instead, she studied world literature, poetry, and philosophy in Japan, developing a sensibility for beauty which ranged from the sun-bleached hemp garments of Japan’s Edo Period, to the films of the French New Wave. When she moved from Japan to Los Angeles, Yuka realized that her interest in conceptual art and poetry could be expressed in the form of textiles. Through a process of closely “reading” the materiality and history of particular fabrics, she learned to create garments which developed from the weave and feel of the material itself.
The garments and collections Yuka has created through Atelier Delphine reveal a openness of spirit and deep appreciation of craftsmanship – values which are woven into the design process.
The Atelier Delphine showroom. Photo: Atelier Delphine.
The name Atelier Delphine speaks to the influence of French minimalist cuts and casual sophistication. While the business is based in New York and Los Angeles, each garment is ethically produced and sewn in global locations that Yuka personally travels to through the garment creation process.
Yuka travels to India where she sources the fabrics for the “well-travelled haori coat,” to Peru, where she works closely with traditional artisans to develop beautifully crafted sweaters and shoes, and to Italy where she seeks out unsurpassed skills in leatherwork and tailoring. The result is a balance between wabi-sabi aesthetics and exceptional technical detailing – two values which are the heart of Japanese culture, and which guide Yuka’s search for beauty all over the world.
Yuka holding garments. Photo: Atelier Delphine.
It is vitally important to Yuka that the artisans she works with maintain their own creative agency. Her design process is informed by a willingness to learn from those who have inherited a deep cultural understanding of the materials they work with, and Yuka’s designs are her way of sensitively interpreting those multi-layered stories. In each instance, she starts with a form or a fabric she has discovered on her travels, and seeks to simplify to its most essential expression while carefully retaining the spirit of its origin. Likewise, each garment is an invitation to the wearer to explore their own personal interpretation of beauty: a beauty which is nothing less than life itself.
We are honored for the opportunity to carry such a thoughtfully inspired, created, and designed line at our store. Shop the late summer + pre-fall collection in store and online at Phosphene on Thursday August 19th.
Additional reading: Artist interview between Echopark Craft Fair and Yuka
Atelier Delphine is a Label to Watch by Fashionista
- some segments taken from Atelier Delphine -
