Mizuki Tochigi

MizukiTochigi

We talk about how the environment inspired her work, and how by working locally and starting conversations she was able to inspire her peers to join her in the movement towards a more sustainable way of living.

Mizuki Tochigi is one of those pioneering sustainability jewellery brands based in London/Tokyo. We got to chat to Mizuki about her work, and we caught her in her Tokyo studio, surrounded by empty water bottles which she collected from friends and peers. Her work is inspirational, because unlike many, her way of living is an example to those who give her the bottles, and later on she explained to us how she got people to change their lifestyle, by bringing in their own water bottles rather than buying single-use plastic ones. Her designs include the use of bottles, cables, ties, crystals (in a collaboration with Swarovski), and in 2019 she received the Grand Prix LVMH scholarship.

Hi Mizuki. How are you doing today?

Yea, I am good, very good.

Mizuki Tochigi @mizukitochigi_jewellery

I was in London until August and this was my last year at Central Saint Martins, so I was preparing for a graduate collection and suddenly in March we went into lockdown. Everything has changed. It was tough for me because I was waiting to use the workshop, I had to change some of the designs as I could not actually make new stuff but after I came back to Tokyo, I was at first working from home, but shortly after I found a studio nearby. Now I can go back to jewellery making and actually make something

Mizuki Tochigi @mizukitochigi_jewellery

Oh, that is really exciting! Actually this morning on your Instagram I saw that you started working on something and it looked great, I cannot wait to see it finished. Do you think that being a sustainable designer stops you from being creative? We often see these brands which do these crazy designs and the moment they turn sustainable they only start making basic white t-shirts, basic jumpers, and you know, it is very boring. Do you think sustainability puts constrains on your work or do you think this allows you to experiment more?

My honest opinion is that I use it as a creative force, since I started there have been so many sustainable projects at school, and because of the limitation of the material, I have to be more creative, I have to think more about how to use it, what to use, and why, and how to make it in a way that people would be able to understand it. Personally, I did enjoy the project in sustainability and I think that is the reason why I started to use water bottles. And when it worked, people started to understand it and it became more effective in communicating with other people.

I love that you mention water bottles and we can see a stack of them behind you.

Well I sent them from London. I collected them from my friends and it was quite easy, I only needed to ask a few friends and they collected all of them. I brought them back here, willing to use all of them

That’s great because you are obviously not just making jewellery, not just designing but you are creating a movement in a way, because when you approach your are asking them for water bottles, they become more conscious of their plastic use.

There is a story behind all of this. There was this girl, she collected water bottles for a couple of months and later on she said to me ‘’ Hi Mizuki, I cannot collect anymore of them, because I realised how many bottles I buy so I stopped buying them and got a water filter ’’. That kind of little change was a bit surpris-

friends and you tell them about why you

ing, and it was a good surprise to me. 24

Because you do not really use the traditional materials in jewellery designing such as gold and silver, but you use plastic, how do you go about designing your jewellery?

I usually start with a research, for this one in particular it came up with a visual image of an ocean filled up with plastic, dirty plastic. Then some news came up ‘’We are eating plastic‘’ ‘’Microplastic is in the rain (or snow)‘’. So my idea was about water bottles, plastic, awareness to the water and ocean, obviously everyone knows it but I

want people to remember every time they buy these bottles and then throw them away. That is why some of the designs have a wavy sort of pattern, others have a more of a water surface pattern to them.

Is there a designer you would love to collaborate with in the future?

I like Iris van Herpen. I love the way she uses new technology but then she creates very mesmerising patterns and they are organic but they are also really well controlled. I just really love her work.

Mizuki Tochigi @mizukitochigi_jewellery