INTRODUCING... KACHI KATSUYA

Kachi Katsuya (@swimmerhairsalon) is a London-based Japanese hair stylist working across fashion editorials, campaigns, runway and music. His work spans V Magazine, PORT, HERO, Dapper Dan and British GQ, with commercial projects for Byredo, Dr. Martens and John Lawrence Sullivan.

Kachi approaches hair as a sculptural element using shape, texture and character to define subject and image in close collaboration with photographers, designers and performers.

We caught up with Kachi and asked him some questions about living the life of a Hair Stylist.

SWC: Why get out of bed in the morning? 

KACHI: My baby gets up early in the morning, so I do too!

SWC: Throughout your time in the hair industry world, can you share any experience you have encountered that would surprise, shock or astound people if they knew about it?

KACHI: Being able to see Dries Van Noten’s work in person before he retired. It was an incredible experience that deeply inspired me.

SWC: Tell us one main random fact you want people to know most about you?

KACHI: ⁠I spent a year backpacking around the world—and ended up being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance while in India.

SWC: Why are you a hairstylist? 

KACHI: ⁠Back in high school, I was torn between becoming an interior designer, a fashion designer, or a hairstylist. When I consulted my teacher, they told me, "If you learn a craft with your hands like hairdressing, you’ll never go hungry." That advice led me to choose this path.

SWC: Who is your biggest style icon?

KACHI: Katsuya Kamo

SWC: Top 3 dinner party guests, dead or alive?

KACHI: ⁠Akihiro Miwa, Shuji Terayama, and my ancestors.

SWC: If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?

KACHI: ⁠The ability to commute between heaven and Earth.

SWC: When you’re not working how do you spend your time? 

KACHI: Recently, I spend most of my free time going for walks with my baby.