The Kitsuné Company S.A.S doing business as Maison Kitsuné ; is a French lifestyle brand founded in 2002 by Gildas Loaëc, Masaya Kuroki, and the London-based company Åbäke. Kitsuné operates as a fashion brand, a record label, an art gallery, and a chain of cafés and restaurants worldwide. Kitsune (きつね, 狐) is the Japanese word for "fox," which is featured prominently in their ready-to-wear collections. Kitsuné Musique and Café Kitsuné are the sub-brands of their record label and chain of coffee shops, respectively.

History

Founding

Maison Kitsuné was founded in 2002 as a record label by Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki in Paris. The founders first met in Loaëc's record shop in Paris where house music lovers, including Kuroki, Daft Punk, and others, frequented. After a trip to Japan for a music video together, they came up with the idea of launching a lifestyle brand not confined to one discipline. The result was Maison Kitsuné, which blends music and fashion as a multi-faceted Paris-meets-Tokyo brand. The pair promoted the brand by performing DJ sets, which was followed by the release of the first t-shirt, shirt, dress, and eventually a full-fledged ready-to-wear collection in 2005 that represents 90 percent of its revenue today. Before co-founding the company, Loaëc worked with Daft Punk and also with Thomas Bangalter's record label Roulé. In 2013, Maison Kitsuné expanded their brand by opening a coffee shop called Café Kitsuné in Tokyo, Japan. The first café-restaurant opened in Paris, France in 2019. They have since expanded Café Kitsuné to 26 locations worldwide, including in Tokyo, Paris, New York City, London, Vancouver, and Shanghai. The name Kitsuné comes from the Japanese word kitsune (hiragana: きつね; kanji: 狐) meaning "fox". In Japan, the fox is said to have the power to change its appearance and its face; the many faces and appearances of the fox represent the different parts and directions of Kitsuné.

Kitsuné Musique

Artists

Note: This list does not include artists whose songs appeared solely on compilations released by Kitsuné.