“It was an ordinary day. I was just in a shop as usual when a model scout spotted me,” she laughs.
Modelling was never in her plan — but at 58, an unexpected new path opened.
“I still don’t know why he saw a future in me as a model. But someone told me once, ‘I love your energy.’”
Today, 62, Naoko is based in East London, a hub for creative minds where young designers, artists, and innovators intersect. She blends right in, carrying the same pulse as the neighborhood’s bright energy.
for @londonessenceco
for @sunnei
for @wiseaccount
From Mountains to London: Bubble meets Glass
Naoko first arrived in the UK in 1988 to study textiles, coming from a village nestled in the mountains of Nagano, Japan.
She enrolled at Goldsmiths during Japan’s bubble economy era—the peak of Japan’s global economic power and influence— when the campus even offered classes exclusively for Japanese students.
“But soon I found I couldn’t keep up with the classes in English, so I dropped out after just one semester,” she says.
She first focused on learning English, then entered Saint Martins (now Central Saint Martins) and later Middlesex University, where her fascination shifted from textiles to glass. Young Naoko landed in London, wrapped in the warmth of Japan’s bubble economy, and spent several years finally carving out her own creative axis.
“I’ve always loved three-dimensional forms. Even when studying textiles, I was drawn to pieces with depth—jacquard, pleats, anything sculptural. I realised that flat, two-dimensional works just didn’t excite me.
And growing up in Hakuba, a small snowy village in Nagano, surrounded by icicles and crystals, maybe my childhood taught me to see the world through glass.”
Her glass work, often inspired by textiles.
Her choice came into bloom. She earned her Master’s at the Royal College of Art, joined a gallery straight after graduation, and made a bright debut in the art world.
Her glass works travelled—from the UK to France and the Netherlands—and were eventually acquired by museums, including the V&A. They even reached a private collector in New York. On the outside, everything looked promising.
But glass demands a spacious studio. Heavy machinery. A maze of electrical setups.
And studio maintenance burned through an extraordinary amount of money— the real side of being an artist hit hard.
So, Naoko began assisting other glass artists just to keep her own studio running. The labour was punishing.
Hand tells history: Her right hand used to grind and polish glass underwater.
Eventually, all that work-for-life left her exhausted and drained. Inspiration and creative energy vanished, and for a long time, she couldn’t create glass that felt right.
Goodbye Glass; A Creative Reset in Shoreditch
“Relieved. Totally relieved,” she recalls, after leaving glass-making and working the shop floor at a designer outlet in Shoreditch.
“After 7 years of study, quitting glass felt like betraying myself,” she admits. For years afterward, she had recurring nightmares about glassmaking. But the steady rhythm of paid work gave her a kind of peace that the art world never had.
In a city like London, money is protection. Stability is oxygen.
Choosing mental and physical stability was not giving up ー It was survival.
Now, she has lived in London’s creative heart for 37 years.
Sudden Start Goes Globally
Over a decade went by on the shop floor, her life quietly drifting along.
And then, in the middle of an ordinary day, the model scout at her usual shop suddenly opened a new door.
At 58, Naoko stepped in front of a camera for the first time, marking her debut as a model.
for @tatlermagazine
for @mujieurope
for @guardian
“I stay open to most opportunities, especially the fun ones. I enjoy diving into them,” she says.
For a WISE campaign, she flew to Budapest, Hungary, where she rode motorbikes, balanced on surfboards, and starred in action filming.
On set for @wiseaccount
“Thank goodness for every day yoga and boxing,” she laughs. “My body just knew what to do.”
The campaign travelled far beyond the UK — moving across Australia and Canada, and becoming one of her favourites.
Melbourne, Australia. for @wiseaccount
She says sudden call-outs are quite common in the modeling industry.
“‘Naoko… are you free this Sunday?’ I get messages like that all the time.”
Advertising, runways, editorial shoots —she stays open to diverse forms of expression.
Just following what feels fun—that’s her compass.
for @jakestwrt
Back to Her First Love, Beyond Grey Days
On holiday, Naoko often ends up traveling with her husband, especially to countries with rich craft traditions — places like Ghana and Ethiopia in Africa, or Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and Uruguay in Latin America. She loves collecting local textiles and handmade pieces, forever drawn to objects shaped by human hands.
Now she’s thinking about taking the next step — turning her growing archive of fabrics into bags and accessories alongside modeling.
After 37 years and many twists and turns, maybe she’s circling back to textiles — the first love that brought her to London in the first place.
When asked about aging, she laughs: “With age, London’s typical grey weather makes my old glass-work injuries act up. My back and right hand hurt sometimes.”
“But honestly, I don’t care how people see me with age. What’s the point?”
Naoko follows the pull of her creativity—toward new expressions, new places, new versions of herself.
Her journey is still unfolding.
for @pawelpysz
Naoko Sato (Grey Model Agency)
Naoko (@glassleopard)
Photos courtesy of Naoko / modeling & glass work
Translation assisted by AI 🤖
Interviewed by Natsuko
Read Original in Japanese here