Elton Ilirjani, globally recognized by his model name HANKO – a poignant tribute to his Albanian mother – is not merely a fixture on global runways; he’s redefining them. Now, the Albanian human rights activist and performance artist is taking his innovative vision to the highly anticipated Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, collaborating with Japanese artist and fashion designer Naoko Tosa on a groundbreaking project titled the “Zero Gravity Box.” This fusion of high fashion, performance art, and speculative science offers a profound glimpse into a more inclusive and futuristic human experience.
Elton’s meteoric rise in the fashion world began uniquely in 2019. He stumbled upon 3NY, a New York City fashion boutique specializing in Asian designers typically overlooked by mainstream retail. Captivated by the distinctive aesthetics, Elton, already boasting a formidable 12 million Instagram followers as a renowned human rights activist, began showcasing these garments on his platform, tagging the creators.
This organic appreciation rapidly blossomed into genuine friendships with the designers, leading to invitations to walk for them, spanning from New York Fashion Week all the way to Seoul. His debut with BESFXXK quickly led to collaborations with other prominent South Korean talents, ultimately propelling him onto major fashion weeks in Milan, Paris, London, Athens, Costa Rica, Miami, and Tokyo. At the most recent New York Fashion Week, he graced the runways for designers Jemma Russo and Naoka Tosa herself, in addition to renowned names like Malan Breton and Ema Savahl.
But Elton Ilirjani is far more than a conventional runway model. He is a performance artist and a vocal champion for genderless modeling and inclusivity within the fashion industry. Known for his distinctive approach to opening runway shows, Elton transforms the catwalk into a stage. Rather than merely presenting a designer’s latest collection, he imbues his walks with deeply performative elements, drawing inspiration from pioneering performance artists such as Yoko Ono, Marina Abramović, and Michèle Lamy. For Elton, performance art is a powerful medium to articulate a narrative of inclusive modeling and universal beauty, moving slowly and deliberately down the catwalk to enthrall his audience.
The stage for this innovative collaboration is the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, running until October 13, 2025. Under the profound theme “Designing Future Society for our Lives,” the World Expo functions as a global hub dedicated to developing and adopting best practices from across the globe. It aims to foster co-creation by the global community in designing a sustainable society that proactively addresses social challenges, embraces emerging sciences, and adapts to evolving technologies.
Within this visionary framework, Japanese artist and fashion designer Naoko Tosa, leading the Art Innovation Academia-Industry Joint Research Division at Kyoto University’s Disaster Prevention Research Institute, unveiled the “Zero Gravity Box.” Created with the cooperation of TOPPAN and Shimadzu Corporation, this unique installation offers an immersive experience attainable through parabolic flights. It ingeniously simulates the environment inside a mother’s womb before birth, akin to a scuba diving experience. Here, the audience symbolically becomes newborns, immersing themselves in the “zero-gravity Sound of Ikebana” while hearing a simulated mother’s heartbeat, fostering a nostalgic, transformative feeling of being reborn.
Elton Ilirjani’s participation brought a dynamic, performative dimension to the “Zero Gravity Box.” Clad in a specially designed outfit by Naoko Tosa and with his face painted stark white adorned with blue crystals, evoking an otherworldly presence that called to mind other-worldly species, Elton entered the unique space. His experience resonated deeply with his philosophy of universal beauty and breaking traditional boundaries.
“The whole experience was reminiscent of being inside your mother’s womb, when you are an embryo, hearing the heartbeat of your mother,” Elton shared, reflecting on the profound sensation. He emphasized the futuristic implications of the project, stating, “This experience is more than art and fashion, it’s the future. Weightlessness is something people will experience in the future, since people will travel to other planets.”
He further articulated how the project aligned perfectly with his advocacy for genderless expression. “There is no gender gap either which is perfect with my project, the genderless modeling. There is no gap in genders, weightlessness, smart mirrors, wonderful sounds, Embryo, its futuristic and together with the colors and how it was composed it was giving micro-gravity or zero gravity.” Reflecting on the profound personal impact, Elton added, “I’m proud to be part of this project. I could hear my heartbeat inside the box. I could remember being a fetus inside my mother. The future of life. It gave me a touch of the universe, it elevated me to another level.”
Elton Ilirjani’s collaboration with Naoko Tosa at Expo 2025 Osaka serves as a powerful testament to the evolving intersection of fashion, art, and technology. It highlights how creative endeavors can not only entertain but also provoke thought, challenge norms, and prefigure future societal experiences. By embodying the ‘newborn’ in a zero-gravity environment and advocating for genderless expression, Elton continues to push the boundaries of what it means to be a model and an artist, championing a more inclusive and imaginative future for all.
For more on Elton Ilirjani’s groundbreaking work, follow him on Instagram: @Eilirjani.
