From the red carpet to the runway, the peekaboo flash of tattoos continues. For those attracted by the hip factor but scared of inking their skin permanently, Steve Suk offers the perfect solution: Horiyoshi the Third, a high-end Japanese leisurewear collection.

Mention Mr. Horiyoshi’s name to tattoo enthusiasts and they will describe the 64-year-old Japanese master as a legend. Mr. Suk’s brain wave was to put the artist’s designs, which include tigers, dragons, snakes, rabbits, samurai, bamboos and the best-selling phoenixes, onto T-shirts, sweaters, cardigans, hoodies, ponchos and scarves for women and men.

Mr. Suk began the Tokyo-based line in 2008 after selling his mergers and acquisition business and a construction company that had been operating throughout Asia. The 31-year-old Korean, who describes himself as a “keen but very picky shopper,” is a stickler for quality. Only the best Italian yarn is used, buttons are carved and every block-printed image has to have Mr. Horiyoshi's approval. (Prices range from €165 to €630, or $220 to $850.)

As he developed the line, Mr. Suk hired the über-connected Robert Forrest — renowned for advising Browns, Elizabeth Hurley, Emanuel Ungaro and Giambattista Valli — as his creative director.

The collection, which first came out in March 2009, now is sold at Browns in London, Maxfield in Los Angeles and Liwan in Paris, and counts celebrities like Tilda Swinton and Pharrell Williams among its fans. “Horiyoshi is rare for being completely rock ’n’ roll and looking chic on everyone, whatever their age,” says Dina Haidar, Liwan’s co-owner.

Meanwhile, the designer Paul Smith, who sports a Horiyoshi rabbit scarf, is behind a Horiyoshi pop-up shop at Paul Smith/Tourrette on 70 rue de Grenelle during Paris Fashion Week