An actress, a muse, model and businesswoman – Kiko Mizuhara is one of the most influential of cool kids in Japan right now. 

A face who we in the fashion world&nbsp;are all too familiar with (and absolutely love!), Kiko Mizuhara has been a long-time collaborator of Coach &ndash; from walking regularly for its runway shows to creating a capsule collection and fronting its campaigns.

But beneath all that fashion, we find the ever-bubbly and charming girl who is also an actress, with two projects launching soon (one being a Malaysian production)&nbsp;and entrepreneur who has just started her own agency &quot;Office Kiko&quot;.

And here&#39;s what she has to say:

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So you walked up the steps of Palais des Festivals in Cannes earlier this year...

Yes, I walked the red carpet for a fashion house. It&rsquo;s always a little tricky, I think, to attend a &ldquo;film&rdquo; festival when you&rsquo;re not in any of them. But you have to take advantage of the moment. It&rsquo;s an incredibly remarkable experience and I loved the dress I wore. Cannes is a very special place. I wish I could come back one day and have one of my films screened there.

&nbsp;

Let&rsquo;s go back in time; what is your first memory as an actress?

I was 17 years old when they asked me to audition for Norwegian Wood, the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami&rsquo;s novel. The director, Tran Anh Hung, had already auditioned several experienced actresses before me but he couldn&rsquo;t decide. I wasn&rsquo;t very good at the audition but Tran Anh liked my personality. To him, it was close to that of Midori&rsquo;s character. It was unexpected and I was afraid to take on the role but I ended up having fun playing her.

&nbsp;

And at the time, you had already worked for several years as a model...

My career began at the age of 13 when I signed an exclusive contract with Seventeen. For a long time, my mother played the role of an impresario; I was not part of any agency. And then, at 17, I chose to leave Kobe, the city where I grew up in. It gave me the feeling of starting a &ldquo;new life&rdquo;.

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In which neighbourhood do you reside now?

In Setagaya, which is a bit out of the way.

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I understand that you were born in the United States?

Yes, in Dallas. My father was from Texas. I don&rsquo;t remember much because I was very young when we moved to Japan, first in the Tokyo area and then, for my father&rsquo;s work, to Kobe. At 16, I started losing my English fluency... it was a shocker!

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And your first name testifies to this cross-cultural upbringing of yours!

Indeed, Kiko has the advantage, for a Japanese given name, of being easy to pronounce. My mother wanted that to be the case. And my middle name is Audrie because my father is a big fan of Audrey Hepburn. So it&rsquo;s almost as if he had always wanted me to become an actress.

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What memory do you have of your childhood?

It&rsquo;s funny because my mom has always loved fashion. At home, we&rsquo;d watch some fashion or modelling shows on TV. I thought that the models and their clothes were so beautiful.

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You are 28 now, where are you with fashion?

I am a vintage girl. I always used to wear the clothes that my mother wore&mdash;old Kenzo, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano et cetera. However, that does not stop me from being anchored in the present. I support the work of my designer friends including Unif. And I always look closely at what&rsquo;s happening especially during London Fashion Week. London&rsquo;s fashion scene is and has always been interesting; the creators always imagine unique, surprising things.

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What are your next projects?

I&rsquo;ll be in two feature films that will come out soon: a Japanese and a Malaysian film production. I am also in the running for some international productions. Nothing is set in stone yet but I hope they will come to fruition. Right now I&rsquo;m devoted to Office Kiko&mdash;an agency that I founded two years ago&mdash;and I&rsquo;m working on a project called OK.

&nbsp;

What&rsquo;s that?

OK is not a business. I experiment with things, I collaborate with my friends or brands that I like, I organise parties... For example, last December I created a Christmas tree for a famous mall in Japan. I want OK to be a formal and informal space for young, creative people. Not only kids but for those who are looking for a place to express themselves.

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PHOTOGRAPHY&nbsp;JENS LANGKJAER&nbsp;

STYLING&nbsp;VANESSA BELLUGEON

TEXT&nbsp;MATHILDE BERTHIER

MAKEUP&nbsp;ENY WHITEHEAD

HAIR&nbsp;TOBIAS SAGNIER

PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT&nbsp;MARION DUCHAUSSOY

STYLING ASSISTANTS&nbsp;GABRIELA CAMBERO &amp; LUCIA WEGIER&nbsp;

"Kiko, Are You OK?": Kiko Mizuhara talks her multi-hyphenate identity and everything else

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