At home with Kiko
Top and skirt GUESS ORIGINALS and bra BLUMARINE
American-born, Japan-raised model, actress and designer Kiko Mizuhara and her cat Ciccio get up to all sorts in her Tokyo gaff. Go on, have a nosy…
Style
Interview: Brooke McCord
Photography: Richard Kern
Styling: Ai Kamoshita
Taken from the new print issue of THE FACE. Get your copy here.
Hi Kiko, how are you? I’m good. I woke up 15 minutes ago.
Are you a morning person or a night owl? Definitely a night owl. I want to be a morning person but I just can’t. I get excited at night, even when I come back super tired from work. There’s just so much stuff to do. Last night, I was cleaning my closet at 2am. I’m trying to move to the US in February, so I need to cut down on clothes.
What’s your favourite thing to make for breakfast? I love peppers, and Japan has really good [shishito] peppers. I cook them with olive oil, salt, spices, soy sauce or sesame oil – super simple. I love mushrooms, kimchi and pickles, too. But my ideal breakfast, as I’m Japanese, would be miso soup. Our classic breakfast is miso soup and fish, but cooking fish is too much for me in the morning!
Tea or coffee? Tea! I’m really into sage tea. I recently discovered one of the oldest herb gardens in Japan in Kagoshima, on an island in southern Japan. I’m working on a cosmetic brand that’s launching early next year and it’s made using ingredients from there. We’re going to make tea with herbs from the garden – they have the best mint, sage and lemongrass. Japan has so many undiscovered herbs, so I’m trying stuff every day.
Do you burn sage? No, but I drink it if I’ve had a rough day or met somebody weird – like cleansing myself from the inside.
Bath or shower? Bath, bath, bath, bath, bath! I’m a crazy bath person. I do everything in there: dip my hair under the water, shampoo, dunk myself again, condition, dunk again. I love water.
Do you have any self-care rituals? Music. It sounds cheesy to say it out loud, but it’s so important for me. Music has always made me feel good about my life. When I’m sad, it lets me go deep into my thoughts and really open up. It makes me connect with myself.
Any pets? Yes, a cat named Ciccio. It’s an Italian name, but he’s not an Italian cat. When I was there, years ago, I heard someone say that and asked what it meant. They said “fatty” or “cutie” and I loved that sound: chee-cho. He wasn’t a fatty when I got him but I named him Ciccio anyway.
Last thing you do before you go to bed? Last night I did a kassa – it’s a [gua sha] stone massager. I do that, drink a sip of water, then go to bed. Sometimes I watch something on YouTube. But I know that it really affects my sleep, so I try not to use my phone and I cuddle Ciccio instead.
What’s the best thing about being at home?
It feels so nice. I love travelling. But to just be in my house, and around friends and family, really calms me down.
Kiko wears jumper and skirt PRADA
Top DIESEL, skirt JENNY FAX and underwear stylist’s own
Bodysuit, socks and hair accessories stylist’s own
Dress MAME KUROGOUCHI and underwear stylist’s own
Top DURAN LANTINK, jeans CARHARTT WIP and underwear stylist’s own
Bodysuit, tights and bracelet SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO
Top archive JUNYA WATANABE courtesy of KAGAMIROCK, trousers BLUMARINE and underwear stylist’s own
Top and tights GUCCI and underwear stylist’s own
Trousers THE NORTH FACE and top and underwear stylist’s own
Top and skirt ANS DOTSLOEVNER, bra GCDS and shorts (worn underneath) stylist’s own
Jacket, top and skirt MIU MIU
Dress BLUESIS, shoes MIU MIU, necklace MOMENTEL and underwear stylist’s own
CREDITS
TALENT Kiko Mizuhara hair Yu Nagatomo MAKE-UP UDA PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT Kotaro Yamamoto STYLIST’S ASSISTANTS Raphael Del Bono and Ai Takahashi PRODUCER Katherine Bampton PRODUCTION Taka Arakawa and Azusa Nozaki at BABYLON
