The role of madoguchi in transnational fashion

This article uses the Japanese concept of madoguchi, literally ‘window opening’, and applies it in the context of a transnational fashion landscape. Here, a madoguchi acts as an essential go-between person, operating as a mediator between two cultures as well as functioning as a scout, fashion hunter and interpreter. The author’s personal experience as a fashion journalist reporting on notable British creative talent for Hanatsubaki, Shiseido’s Japanese in-house fashion magazine, provides a relational perspective on the role, value and skills of a transcultural madoguchi, as well as consideration of the challenges that arose from this exchange. Reflections on the peculiarities of translation when communicating cultural content to a foreign readership reveal the ‘traffic in things’ involved in global flows and the impact of evolving technology on professional fashion transmission.