{
  "id": 10829116,
  "title": "Jakarie Whitaker Wants You To Be Confused",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/jakarie-whitaker-wants-you-to-be-confused",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-30T02:00:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Tokyo Weekender",
    "slug": "tokyo-weekender",
    "url": "https://www.tokyoweekender.com/art_and_culture/fashion/hikari-no-yami-jakarie-whitaker-interview/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Jakarie Whitaker, a 25-year-old designer from Flint, Michigan, has built a successful career in fashion design, co-founding the avant-garde streetwear label Hikari no Yami in 2020. The brand's name, translating to \"darkness of light,\" reflects its conceptual approach to upcycling, combining reverse tailoring, patchwork, and hand-painting to create one-of-a-kind works. Whitaker, a four-time recipient of the Virgil Abloh \"Post-Modern\" Scholarship and a Fashion Trust US finalist, has exhibited his collections in Milan, Paris, and New York fashion weeks.\n\nBorn into a family that consumed art and film, Whitaker's interest in design was sparked by Virgil Abloh's work. After pursuing pre-med in college, he switched his major to fashion design and embarked on a whirlwind of hands-on apprenticeships globally. Whitaker spent a year in Tokyo, interning at Yamamoto’s brand and Off-White, before returning to Tokyo for a study-abroad program.\n\nHis Japanese inspirations, such as wabi-sabi and kintsugi, resonate deeply with him, as he appreciates the philosophies behind these concepts. Whitaker's intuitive approach to upcycling and reconstruction, devoid of mood boards or sketches, results in raw hems, illogical patchwork, and tangles that feel both industrial and organic. His latest collection, \"Chapter 11: Parasite,\" explores human consumption, sustainability, and the act of becoming parasitic toward fashion, with spines, extra molds, and different fabrications throughout.",
  "summary": "It’s close to midnight in New York when Jakarie Whitaker joins our video call, though he insists the hour doesn’t feel late to him anymore. “I’m used to Tokyo time now — my perception of time is gone,” he says, laughing. The 25-year old designer had just wrapped up a successful meeting with a Dover […] The post Jakarie Whitaker Wants You To Be Confused appeared first on Tokyo Weekender .",
  "key_points": [
    "Jakarie Whitaker, 25, founded avant-garde streetwear label Hikari no Yami in 2020.",
    "Brand's name \"Hikari no Yami\" means \"darkness of light\" and reflects conceptual upcycling approach."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Jakarie Whitaker's unconventional design approach, inspired by Japanese philosophies and Virgil Abloh's work, challenges traditional fashion norms, blurring lines between industrial and organic aesthetics in his avant-garde streetwear label.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}