Ken Sakata (Instagram, Substack) is the founder and designer of his fashion brand, Front Office.
Ken was a surgeon in Australia until a fake football club he invented during COVID turned into merch and woke up a lifelong dream to be a designer. His short video essays on the history and craft behind everyday clothing made him one of the internet’s best explainers of fashion, and this year he moved to Tokyo to take his work to the next level. I wrote about Ken in 2024 and have been following his journey since.
We talk about leaving medicine, whether creative work is selfish, and clothing’s mix of utility, status, and art. We discuss getting good quickly, what makes a garment meaningful, why fashion keeps looking backward, and Ken’s worry that he may be destined to be the Anthony Bourdain of fashion rather than a great designer.
I hope you are inspired to pull loose threads, take dormant dreams seriously, and find out what you’re capable of.
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This episode is supported by Google. Genie 4 is Google DeepMind’s latest interactive world model: a live simulation that responds to where you move and look, your prompts, and your voice. Genie 4 is in research preview. Learn more: https://deepmind.google/blog/genie-4-a-new-generation-of-world-simulation/