American-Korean, Texas-born model, actor, singer and designer Kiko Mizuhara [IG] covers the April 2024 issue of Vogue Taiwan [IG]. The prodigious talent grew up in Japan and initially found herself heart-broken at being told that she was too short to be a model — and not having a famous model mom to solve the height challenge in fashion world.

Instead, social media solved Kiko’s problem, allowing her to create direct connections with followers — all 7.8 million of them.

Today, Mizuhara manages her own pure beauty brand Kiiks and a fashion brand Office Kiko.

Prominent photographer Zhong Lin [IG] captures ‘By Her Rules’, with a familiar ‘popsicle’ image cluing AOC to search for the environmental connection in the editorial, styled by Chen Yu. / Hair by Ryo Narushima; makeup by Simone Gammino

This visual popsicle reference connects to Lin’s January 2022 fashion story ‘Heat Wave’, one of AOC’s two top stories ever. They are so different visually that the two stories mirror the great political divide in America.

We will share them juxtaposed in their own separate post, with commentary. Both stories refuse to die down, which is the universe’s way of dialing into AOC, to have her own ‘say’ on the fascinating contradiction between the two stories. For now, we share the environmental perspective.

Peng Chang in 'Heat Wave' by Zhong Lin for Vogue Taiwan January 2022 AOC Fashion

Staying with Vogue Taiwan’s April 2024 issue and Kiko Mizuhara’s environmental commitments, the talent explains the evolution of her own environmental passions.

"During the epidemic, I started diving for film shooting and obtained a diving license, which inspired my curiosity about nature. As I became closer to the ocean, I began to think more about environmental issues, such as those on us Sunscreen oil actually pollutes the ocean, so when I saw the beautiful corals with my own eyes, I thought that the cosmetics we use are destroying the environment, which gave me the idea of starting my own brand."

It took Kiko two and a half years to settle on Kagoshima, Japan as the location of her beauty products factory. Famous for its clean water, the entrepreneur herself drinks it directly.

Office Kiko, her clothing brand, delivers projects when a concept declares itself. Even in her pop-up shops, her devoted followers cannot assume that Kiko’s famous cloud pajamas will be in stock. She explains:

“. . . Office Kiko is not in operation every quarter. It is more like a project in collaboration with artists. Everyone likes Office Kiko, which makes me very happy, but I am not in a hurry, and I don't want to launch products every quarter. , because overproduction is not friendly to the environment, I just want to devote myself to the series I want to do. For example, we will cooperate with Keen, and we are also discussing future plans with "More Trees", a forest protection organization founded by Ryuichi Sakamoto. . ”

AOC wrote last night on this very topic of how Shein has nearly strangled H&M in America over this issue of unlimited consumption in units and revenue. It’s not that H&M is the epitome of environmental activism, but they are way more committed in actions — not words — than Shein.

Supposedly America’s younger generations are very committed to environmental action — except in their own closets. Saying ‘yes’ in a survey or joining a street protest targeting Exxon is easy. Saying ‘no’ to today’s new Shein temptation — after buying Shein two days ago — requires self-discipline and personalized action to protect our precious natural world.

There’s lots more of Kiko’s interview with Vogue Taiwan on the website link above. Many articles are published in English. Otherwise, just hit translator. ~ Anne