Yoshitaka Amano is one of the most influential visual artists of the 20th century — a Japanese illustrator and painter who helped define the visual language of anime in the 1970s, who created the iconic character designs for the Final Fantasy video game series beginning in 1987, and whose fine art work has been exhibited internationally for decades. His imagery is immediately recognizable: fluid figures, layered color, a fantasy universe that exists between the human and the elemental. His hand is among the most distinctively legible in contemporary illustration.
The Vestium NY collaboration with Amano — called the Supernatural collection — began with a question that Vestium's founders had been asking of fashion more broadly: what does it mean to make clothing that is genuinely art? Not clothing that references art, not clothing that uses art as a surface treatment, but clothing that is in genuine conversation with an artist whose visual world has depth and duration.
Amano's work answered that question in a specific way. His imagery — the characters from his anime and video game collaborations, the landscapes from his solo exhibitions, the figures from his paintings — is already fully formed. It exists in a visual universe with its own internal logic, its own palette, its own mythology. Bringing that universe into a garment is not a decoration decision. It is a curatorial one: which works, in which formats, on which garments?
The Collection
The Supernatural collection pairs Amano's existing illustrated artwork with Vestium's tailoring, printed onto a fabric developed specifically for the collaboration: a blend of silk, seaweed fiber, and recycled cotton that gives the surface the luminosity his work requires without sacrificing the drape and structure the garment demands.
The individual pieces were designed by working backward from the artwork. The Prosecco Prince suit takes its name from Amano's work *Universe* — a cascading landscape of shapes and anime characters printed across the suiting fabric. The Universum coat is perhaps the most complete realization of the collaboration: an overcoat whose lining is printed with Amano's detailed illustrations, made from a seaweed-based fiber and organic cotton blend, knitted in Portugal. The illustration lining is not a surface applied to a finished coat; it is engineered into the garment from the beginning.
The collection extends beyond tailoring: Dream Girl sneakers, a cap, t-shirts, sweaters, and scarves, all printed with Amano's imagery. This breadth reflects the Vestium founders' view that the collaboration should not be limited to the suit jacket — that Amano's visual world belongs in the full wardrobe of a person who connects with it.
The Fabric Innovation
Choosing the right fabric for an artist collaboration is not a simple matter of finding something that accepts print. The fabric must print accurately enough that the artwork retains its character — Amano's work depends on the relationship between line and color that his illustrations carry — and it must wear correctly as a garment, with the appropriate drape, weight, and durability.
The silk-seaweed-recycled cotton blend was developed to meet both requirements. Seaweed fiber, derived from kelp and processed into a soft, lustrous filament, has a surface quality close to silk — it accepts color with depth and doesn't dull the print. Combined with recycled cotton and silk, the blend produces a fabric with both the luminosity the artwork needs and the substance the garment requires.
The environmental dimension of the fabric choice is also deliberate: seaweed grows without freshwater or fertilizer, and the recycled cotton reduces reliance on virgin fiber. The fabric reflects Vestium's view that the finest materials and the most responsible materials can be the same material.
The Launch
The Supernatural collection launched on September 11, 2023, at A Studio Archive in Brooklyn — an art space at 63 Flushing Avenue in the DUMBO/Navy Yard area — with a panel discussion hosted by Danny Cole, the New York artist known for his Creature World practice. The panel brought together Vestium and Amano's team for a conversation about what it means for an artist's visual universe to enter fashion, and for fashion to take an artist's work seriously enough to build new materials around it.
The event was at full capacity. The collaboration had found its audience before the collection had formally shipped.
At Vestium NY
The Supernatural collection is available through consultation. Each piece is made to the client's measurements, with Amano's imagery printed on the silk-seaweed-recycled cotton blend fabric developed for the collaboration.
Explore Vestium NY's explore the made-to-order collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Yoshitaka Amano?
Yoshitaka Amano is a Japanese artist and fantasy illustrator, one of the founding figures of anime, who created iconic character designs for Final Fantasy (from 1987), Gatchaman, Vampire Hunter D, and many other works. His fine art has been exhibited internationally. He is among the most recognizable visual artists working in illustration and painting.
What is the Supernatural collection?
Supernatural is Vestium NY's collaboration with Yoshitaka Amano, pairing his illustrated artwork with tailoring on a fabric blend of silk, seaweed fiber, and recycled cotton. The collection includes the Prosecco Prince suit, the Universum coat, and accessories including sneakers, cap, sweaters, and scarves.
How is the artwork incorporated into the garment?
Amano's existing illustrated artwork is printed onto the silk-seaweed-recycled cotton fabric developed for the collection. Each garment is then made to the client's measurements from this fabric.
Why seaweed fiber?
Seaweed fiber produces a surface with the luminosity and color depth that Amano's work requires, while offering environmental advantages over conventional synthetic fibers — seaweed grows without freshwater or fertilizer. The fabric reflects Vestium's commitment to the finest materials being the most responsible ones.
Where was the Supernatural collection launched?
The collection launched with a panel discussion at A Studio Archive in Brooklyn on September 11, 2023, hosted by artist Danny Cole (Creature World).
Work with Vestium NY. The Supernatural collection brings Yoshitaka Amano's visual universe into the wardrobe.