1977年生まれ。
東京藝術大学で染織を学び、同大学大学院修士課程修了後、アパレル企業にてデザイナーとして勤務。
その後、同大学大学院博士過程に再入学。
2005年フランス外務省AFAAの招きにより、PARIS・CITE INTERNATIONALE DES ARTSで活動。
パリでの個展開催等を経て、2006年に自身のブランド「HIROCOLEDGE（ヒロコレッジ）」を設立。
2007年には、ミス・ユニバース日本代表の森理世氏のナショナルコスチュームを担当。
また、同年8月、21＿21 DESIGN SIGHT（東京ミッドタウン内）にて開催されたサマープログラム「楽狂(＿) 落笑 LUCKY LUCK SHOW」に参加し演者のひとりである柳家花緑師 匠の衣裳を手がける。
2008年3月、同大学大学院博士過程修了し博士号（美術）を取得。
活動は、工芸、ファッション、アートなど、あらゆるジャンルの垣根を越え、日本の伝統に進化を加 えた作品を生み出している。
「今、ここから始まる伝統」
これまでのさまざまな活動の中で、衣服や染織の研究を行ないながら、日本の文化や伝統について考えてきました。その中で出会った「和」の美。その世界には日本人が構築してきた、今なお色褪せない美学がつまっていました。私はそれを、過去に完成された伝統、つまり「変えることができない世界」であるという概念を捨て、ここから始まる伝統を作っていこうと考えました。現代の日本に生きる、日本人である私だからこそ生み出せる「和」。私が生まれながらに持つ「和」と、過去に生まれた「和」の融合によって、新たな伝統が始まるのではないかと思います。私の創るものが、数百年後に日本の伝統として受け継がれることを願って止みません。
Hiroko was born in the summer of 1977.
She was only seven years old when she determined her future. When she was watching a fashion show on TV, she was intrigued with how clothing could create beauty, and in her child's heart, she knew fashion was the path to follow.
During her high school years, she mastered the basics of clothes-making. The number of design she draw totaled up to one thousand.
With a growing desire for making clothes from the fabric itself, she enrolled the most renowned art school in Japan, the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1996 to study dyeing exclusively.
As she studied traditional technique of Japanese dyeing method, she increased the recognition of Kimono as daily wear. This is when her career began as an artist mainly focusing on Kimono and its accessories.
After finishing her master in 2002, she worked for an apparel company as a designer for a year. However, disappointed by its money-making mass production, she renews her passion towards the long-life concept of Kimono and decides to go back to the grad school in order to expand her knowledge of Kimono.
In April 2003, she reenrolled the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music for doctoral course.
In 2005, she was invited by AFAA of French ministries of Foreign Affairs to work as an artist at The Cité Internationale des Arts.
After returning to Japan in December 2006, she founded HIROCOLEDGE Co., Ltd. and started her new career as a design director for her original brand, HIROCOLEDGE.
In May 2007, she designed national costume for Miss Japan/Universe, Riyo Mori. In August of the same year, she designed a costume for the rakugo (comic) storyteller, Karoku Yanagiya for the summer program "LUCKY LUCK SHOW" hosted by 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT at Tokyo Midtown.
In March 2008, she received her Doctorate in Fine Arts from the university.
She now takes proactive approaches to her artistic endeavors in the area such as craft, fashion, and fine arts and her works incorporate chic, modern twist to the traditional techniques that have been passed down for generations.
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW TRADITION
"During the course of my various work as an artist, studying clothing and dyeing gave me a great opportunity to think about the Japanese culture and its tradition. What I discovered ... was the beauty of Kimono. The world of Kimono was full of aesthetics built and cherished by the Japanese for the past hundreds of years. In my understanding, it is a form of tradition completed in the past which cannot be changed. What I am capable of is to inherit its technique and concept, and to benefit from their expertise to create a new tradition. I'm a modern Japanese woman living in modern Japanese culture. And that should be my strength that gives a distinctive Japanese taste to my artwork. When my "Japan" in present-day and their "Japan" in the old-days meet somewhere in the middle, I have a feeling that a new tradition will begin. I couldn't ask for more if what I create was to cross from one generation to another in the future."
