GWENAEL
FRENCHMAN GWENAEL NICOLAS has lived in
Japan for some 27 years. ‘I came here to escape his-
tory,’ he says. ‘When you explain a project in France,
you need to explain why you’re doing it. In Japan,
history begins now – from this moment on. That
liberates the imagination.’ In 1998 he cofounded
Curiosity with Reiko Miyamoto, whose experience
at an advertising agency grants her the ‘sense of
reality I don’t have’, says Nicolas. ‘We’re a good
mix.’ Currently, the duo synthesizes the ideas of its
28-strong multicultural team in Tokyo into every-
thing from interiors and furniture to graphics and
cosmetics. Nicolas walks us through the five stand-
out spaces that shaped the studio.
64 PORTRAITS
