The Kitsuné France Company SAS, doing business asMaison Kitsuné (French pronunciation:[mezɔ̃kitsune]) is a French lifestyle brand founded in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki. Kitsuné operates as a fashion brand, a record label, an art gallery, and a chain of cafés and restaurants worldwide. Kitsune (きつね, 狐) is the Japanese word for 'fox', which is featured prominently in their ready-to-wear collections. Kitsuné Musique and Café Kitsuné are the sub-brands of their record label and chain of coffee shops, respectively.
History
Maison Kitsuné was founded in 2002 as a record label by Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki in Paris.[1] The founders first met in Loaëc's record shop in Paris where house music lovers, including Kuroki, Daft Punk, and others, frequented.[1] After a trip to Japan for a music video together, they came up with the idea of launching a lifestyle brand not confined to one discipline.[1] The result was Maison Kitsuné, which blends music and fashion as a multi-faceted Paris-meets-Tokyo brand.[1] The pair promoted the brand by performing DJ sets, which was followed by the release of the first t-shirt, shirt, dress, and eventually a full-fledged ready-to-wear collection in 2005 that represents 90 percent of its revenue today.[1]
In 2013, Maison Kitsuné expanded their brand by opening a coffee shop called Café Kitsuné in Tokyo, Japan.[1] The first café-restaurant opened in Paris, France in 2019.[2] They have since expanded Café Kitsuné to 26 locations worldwide, including in Tokyo, Paris, New York City, London, Vancouver, and Shanghai.[2]
The name Kitsuné comes from the Japanese word kitsune (hiragana: きつね; kanji: 狐) meaning "fox". In Japan, the fox is said to have the power to change its appearance and its face; the many faces and appearances of the fox represent the different parts and directions of Kitsuné.[3]
