Keiko Iris
Born in Tokyo in 1974, Keiko Iris studied bassoon at Tokyo University of the Arts. After graduating, she moved to Germany, but a turning point in her life led her to move to Italy, a country that captivated her, where she studied fashion at the Istituto C. Secoli in Bologna.
During a temporary return to Japan, she encountered "hemp" and was so profoundly impacted, like a strong beam of light, that she closed the chapter on her five years of living in Europe and returned home. She became deeply fascinated by Japan's history and culture surrounding hemp, as well as the essential power of the material itself.
Based on the sensibilities and experiences cultivated from her fetal period within a Noguchi Seitai environment, she reinterpreted fashion not as "trends" but as "something that brings out one's individuality and body awareness." In 2003, she launched the hemp wear brand "LunatiCanapa." She garnered attention through appearances on TV programs like "Shiawase LOHAS" and features in natural lifestyle media and magazines such such as "Yogini."
In 2021, after an approximately 20-year hiatus, she traveled to Europe again, this time to Denmark. Via "Arco d'oro," a shining bridge, she relaunched her brand as "ik! – New Planet Life –" in 2026 and is currently expanding it globally.
With "living as if dancing" as her theme, she operates from two bases, Denmark and Japan. She continues to create and propose simple, new ways of living, unconstrained by conventional wisdom. She lives with her 15-year-old daughter, who attends a Steiner school, in a forest in an eco-village in Denmark.