Purple Magazine
— Purple #43 S/S 2025
The Tokyo Diary Issue
tomihiro kono
TOMIKONO WIG
interview
by ALEPH MOLINARI
photography
by JOE LAI
Shuran Guo, Saura, and Ran Taniguchi, models
Oh Seong Seok, make-up
Christina Hardy at Mini Title, production
Inspired by punk hairstyling in Tokyo and London, Tomihiro Kono takes headwear to the next level. His wild, multicolored creations go beyond wigs, turning fashion hairstyles into wearable art made for magazines, performances, and nightlife.
ALEPH MOLINARI — Where do you come from in Japan?
TOMIHIRO KONO — I’m the firstborn of a farmer. My parents grew oranges in Shikoku, an island in the south, and they kept telling me I would have to take over from them. But when I graduated from junior high school, I decided to do something else.
ALEPH MOLINARI — What was your first experience with hairstyles?
TOMIHIRO KONO — One day, I went to a barbershop with a small photo of underground punks I had cut out from a fashion magazine, and requested a similar hairstyle. The barber never managed to recreate it on me. But then I went to a beauty salon, and it was a success: English punk hair, all spikes.
ALEPH MOLINARI — You wanted to be a punk?
TOMIHIRO KONO — Yes. But Japanese hair texture is different: it’s very coarse and thick, while European hair is softer. The hairdresser told me I would have to get a perm to get the style in the picture. I trusted him. [Laughs] After graduating, I went to Osaka and decided to train and work as a hairdresser. A lot of people who came to the salon asked me for the Vidal Sassoon haircut. I found a guy in Harajuku who did it perfectly, so I decided to go to Tokyo.
ALEPH MOLINARI — So, the country boy comes to the big city and immerses himself in Harajuku’s madness. [Laughs]
TOMIHIRO KONO — Yes. When I arrived there in the late ’90s and early 2000s, it was a crazy time for DIY hair, the Fuse Magazine vibe. The street kids dressed up in crazy ways. Harajuku was full of people cutting and customizing their own hair, experimenting, and taking risks with no skill at all, spontaneously! DIY has always been an important part of my creations. When I do anything, there’s always a punk aesthetic.
ALEPH MOLINARI — So, how did you develop a more sculptural creativity?
TOMIHIRO KONO — First, I moved to London, where I was working in a hair salon for 10 years, doing a lot of basic things. The basics are super important if you want to create something new. I always wanted to have a signature, and I had been looking a long time for one. At that time, big hair was the trend, but we had to create something new. So, I looked for head props. Sayaka Maruyama and I went to antique and flea markets and used vintage materials, collecting feathers and beads. This was the beginning of the sculptural works.
ALEPH MOLINARI — What I find interesting about your wigs is that they’re not just wigs to transform your character — they’re masks. How did you start integrating those anime eyes into wigs?
TOMIHIRO KONO — I wanted to break the limitations of wigs, particularly haute couture wigs, which are often available in only one size.
That’s why I went in a more creative direction, painted eyes on top of them, and made them movable, so they became like accessories. When a client buys one of my pieces, they can put it on any way they like. I really enjoy making wigs because they offer so much freedom.
ALEPH MOLINARI — What were your first influences?
TOMIHIRO KONO — I was born in 1980, and this decade influenced me when I was a kid — so many interesting celebrities and musicians on TV, so many fascinating fashion magazines for a country boy!
ALEPH MOLINARI — What about anime?
TOMIHIRO KONO — The Japanese grow up with anime and manga, so it’s quite normal for us. I was used to watching animation and reading manga because we didn’t have iPhones as a distraction. But I also lived abroad for more than 10 years, in London and New York. So, I have a third eye to see what is cool and interesting about Japanese culture.
ALEPH MOLINARI — Is it a dialogue between Japan and elsewhere?
TOMIHIRO KONO — Yes, mixing together the hairstyle cultures of Europe, the US, and Japan. Also mixing the present and the past because the history of hairdressing has so many layers, from the 1910s to the 1990s to now. You can’t create an entirely new thing, so I like mixing old and new ideas.
ALEPH MOLINARI — You can mix the past, present, and future because there are no rules today.
TOMIHIRO KONO — Exactly. We used to go all the time to Jimbōchō Book Town in Tokyo to find old pictures and books, but now there are so many images and so much information on the Internet, on Instagram. It’s too much sometimes. So, finding a great book is still more relevant to me. This is the great thing about being an image-maker: you can still get excited about culture.
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