Koji Udo

Koji Udo is a Japanese fashion designer born in Kumamoto in 1971. He graduated from Tokyo Mode Gakuen and joined Beams, first working in casual retail and later in tailored clothing. A period of study in London renewed his commitment to fashion; after returning to Japan he became involved in domestic label development and helped establish Lounge Lizard with former school colleagues.

Udo founded FACTOTUM in 2004 and developed it into a Tokyo menswear label built around denim, tailoring and everyday clothing. The brand won the Tokyo Fashion Award in 2014 and used the award to strengthen its overseas presentation, including Paris showroom seasons. FACTOTUM remained his principal independent project as he expanded into related lines and collaborations.

In 2017 Udo was appointed menswear creative director of Costume National as part of the house's post-founder relaunch. His first designed season was Autumn/Winter 2017–18, followed by a fuller commercial rollout for Spring/Summer 2018. He directed Costume National menswear through Spring/Summer 2020, when his contract concluded alongside womenswear creative director Yasutoshi Ezumi.

Udo's work at FACTOTUM joins tailored clothing, workwear and military references to a practical urban wardrobe. Denim is a recurring anchor because its familiarity lets fabric, wash, proportion and small construction changes carry the design. Jackets, shirts, trousers and outerwear tend to preserve recognisable everyday forms while shifting their weight, finish or silhouette.

Travel has long supplied the cultural atmosphere behind his collections. Udo visits places connected to writers, landscapes or themes that interest him, then translates those encounters through textiles, dyeing, embroidery and restrained styling. Japanese techniques can sit inside otherwise direct menswear, giving surface and detail a quiet role inside the garment.

At Costume National he brought this measured approach to a house known for sharp minimalism and rock-inflected tailoring. The appointment placed his menswear experience inside an existing Italian vocabulary, with the post-2017 collections maintaining clean lines and controlled proportions while introducing a Japanese-led creative structure.