An actress, a muse, and a businesswoman — Kiko Mizuhara is one of the most influential of cool kids in Japan

So you walked up the steps of Palais des Festivals in Cannes earlier this year...

Yes, I&nbsp;walked the red carpet for a fashion house. It&rsquo;s always a little tricky, I&nbsp;think, to attend a film festival when you&rsquo;re not in any. But you have to take advantage of the moment. It&rsquo;s an incredibly remarkable experience and I&nbsp;loved the dress I&nbsp;wore. Cannes is a very special place. I&nbsp;wish I&nbsp;could come back one day and have one of my films screened there.

Let&rsquo;s go back in time; what is your first memory as an actress?

I was 17 years old when they asked me to audition for Norwegian Wood, the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami&rsquo;s novel. The director, Tran Anh hung, had already auditioned several experienced actresses before me but he couldn&rsquo;t decide. I&nbsp;wasn&rsquo;t very good at the audition but tran Anh liked my personality. To him, it was close to that of Midori&rsquo;s character. It was unexpected and I&nbsp;was afraid to take on the role but I&nbsp;ended up having fun playing her.

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And at the time, you had already worked for several years as a model...

My career began at the age of 13 when I&nbsp;signed an exclusive contract with Seventeen. For a long time, my mother played the role of an impresario; I&nbsp;was not part of any agency. And then, at 17, I&nbsp;chose to leave Kobe, the city where I&nbsp;grew up in. It gave me the feeling of starting a new life.

You are 28 now, where are you with fashion?

I am a vintage girl. I&nbsp;always used to wear the clothes that my mother wore &mdash; old Kenzo, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano et cetera. However, that does not stop me from being anchored in the present. I support the work of my designer friends including Unif. And I&nbsp;always look closely at what&rsquo;s happening especially during London Fashion Week. London&rsquo;s fashion scene is and has always been interesting; the creators always imagine unique, surprising things.

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What are your next projects?

I&rsquo;ll be in two feature films that will come out soon: a Japanese and a Malaysian film production. I&nbsp;am also in the running for some international productions.&nbsp; Nothing is set in stone yet but I&nbsp;hope they will come to fruition. Right now I&rsquo;m devoted to office Kiko &mdash; an agency that I&nbsp;founded two years ago &mdash; and I&rsquo;m working on a project called OK.

What&rsquo;s that?

OK is not a business. I&nbsp;experiment with things, I&nbsp;collaborate with my friends or brands that I&nbsp;like, and I organise parties. For example, last December I&nbsp;created a Christmas tree for a famous mall in Japan. I want OK to be a formal and informal space for young, creative people.&nbsp; Not only kids but for those who are looking for a place to express themselves.

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Credits:

Photography: Jens Langkjaer 
Styling: Vanessa Bellugeon 
Text: Mathilde Berthier 
Makeup: Eny Whitehead 
Hair: Tobias Sagnier 
Photography Assistant: Marion Duchaussoy 
Styling Assistants: Gabriela Cambero and Lucia Wegier

Full story in the Accessories booklet of the <a href="https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/out-now-l-officiel-singapore-s-big-issue">September 2019 issue</a> of L&#39;Officiel Singapore.

Kiko Mizuhara Talks About Her Career As An Actress And Model

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