Juri Kobayashi
Growing up next to the beach in a tranquil sunny town near the tip of Boso peninsula in Japan, she had a peaceful and rather sleepy childhood until 8 years old when her family moved to Tokyo. She had an adventurous teenage-hood in the megalopolis, exploring hidden places behind monster buildings and little gems in the underground, which still remains as her habit.
In the depressing post-bubble era in Tokyo, she was strongly influenced by underground culture, spending most of her time in galleries, museums, clubs, record shops and vintage fashion stores. That led her to study Media Art and get a diploma in Imaging Arts and Science at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, and Fashion Design & Styling at Amsterdam Fashion Institute later on.
Design exhibition organisation
In 2005, she went back to Tokyo and joined DesignTide, one of the most important design fairs during Tokyo Design Week. As a starting member, she went through the whole process of making fairs. By working closely with both highly acclaimed and upcoming international designers, she gained knowledge of cultural differences and diverse design thinking.
Through her opportunities to witness the latest design in Europe, she started feeling an urge to move back to Europe, and finally in 2010, she landed in Berlin, where she currently lives and works as a style consultant and project coordinator for LessRain.
Design exchange Berlin-Tokyo
The cultural difference between East and West has always fascinated her. Juri Kobayashi continues working for several design projects between Berlin and Tokyo, for example, she coordinated an exhibition and workshops for a Japanese company, working together with Berlin designers LLOTLLOV and Bikini.
Fashion & Styling
Besides, her love for fashion has never faded and in 2013 she opened a pop-up vintage boutique MOGA Berlin, to share her love for fashion from the 1920-30’s and then created a vintage-inspired fashion brand Replica.
Currently she works as a independent wardrobe & prop stylist, consulting conceptual design and style elements for photo shoots, both for commercial jobs such as seasonal look book for fashion brands, artistic images for musicians and dancers, and editorial projects for magazines.
Personal projects
Coming from Japan and living in Europe, travelling is an essential part of her life and experiencing different cultures has been the source of inspiration.
To realise her passion for travelling, she created a travel accessory brand Circles & Sun.
More Team Members
Luis Alberto Martinez is the team’s outpost in the Mediterranean, technical researcher, technical director since 1999.
Benjamin Erben
Benjamin has been working as a brand strategist for over 20 years in Berlin and London. He has a BA in Design and an MBA in Creative Leadership.