Spotlight on: A Degree Fahrenheit

Award-winning designer Yu Amatsu's seen many successes since returning to his native Japan. As one of his proud supporters, DHL caught up with him last year in Berlin to see how winning the DHL Designer Award has impacted his career.

Brief Bio: Japan-born designer Yu Amatsu got his first real start in the fashion industry as a costumer to the stars in New York City in 2004. ‘’I was interested in designing costumes because with costumes it’s different: they have to be created individually, for one person. And you can find this personal and individual haute couture in the US and it’s in great demand there.’’

After returning to Japan in 2010 as the recipient of a XYZ award from the Japan Fashion Council, Amatsu created the label A Degree Fahrenheit, inspired by the colors and forms created by molten iron. ''For me, the visual is important but also what's invisible, not on the surface – and that's what temperature means to me – is this invisible aspect I want to transport to the visible.''

’’I’ve always liked drawing and wearing nice clothes, those are two ways of expressing myself. But I’m not wearing my paintings on my body so not everybody can see them, that’s why wearing clothes is a faster way of showing yourself to others.’’

Big Break: After being crowned the winner of the DHL Fashion Export Scholarship at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo in 2011, Amatsu's brand “A Degree Fahrenheit,” started on expansion plans that looked to Europe. Awarded a slot at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin for the shows in January 2013, Amatsu got his feet on the ground in the important continental market.

''Japan is a very special market,” Amatsu told DHL after his debut showing at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin. “That's why I found it very important to show my collection in Europe because in Europe you can find many new trends coming up and that's an advantage to show my collection here.”

Next Steps: ''Winning prizes causes a positive effect, you get so much attention. It becomes an incentive for me and brings me energy as I endeavor to meet these expectations.''

The award-winning designer returns to the Tokyo runway again for the 2014-15 Autumn/Winter collections. Be sure to check out “A Degree Fahrenheit” at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo March 21, 2014 at 21:00 in Shibuya Hikarie Hikarie Hall A. And don't miss Amatsu's successors in the DHL Designer Award, DRESSEDUNDRESSED, who will be showing at 10:30 on March 18, 2014 in Hall B.