SIDE-A
Born in 1986. One of the founding members of "FAN," he is currently the director of the Parco store. He selects items across genres and handles not only apparel but also miscellaneous goods to create a store that is not bound by existing frameworks. He is currently planning to open a gallery and hot dog shop.
ALMOSTBLACK × MIDORIKAWARYO SHOES ¥68,000+TAX
SIDE-B Chill with smoking buddies at SSW.
What made you fall in love with clothes?
Ito:When I was in elementary school, I liked gorillas purely because they were cool. When I saw A BATHING APE® products, I thought there were some really cool gorilla T-shirts, and from there I fell in love with clothes.
I have always loved the backstreets because of my background in Ape, and then there was a boom in domestic brands, and then a period when I dressed like a hippie.
It seems that the mix of cultures that you have been exposed to since your childhood has formed the person you are today.
Please tell us about the process from the launch of "FAN" to the Parco store.
Ito:I was originally the director of a select store at my previous job, but after that store disappeared, my friend and I planned to start a select store together, and the "FAN" Harajuku store was established in 2017. But it was flooded by a typhoon the year before last, and now we only operate the Parco store.
My friend who started the business with me was the director, and I was in charge of running the store by looking at the numbers. My friend is also a stylist, but she started working for an idol group and became murderously busy, making it difficult for her to watch the store, so now I am the director. So now I am in charge of the store as the director. I am making use of my friend's taste for fashion, but now the store has more of a street style, which I like.
I was under the impression that the brand selection was genre-less.
Ito:I select brands of the same age or slightly older, but since I am an omnivore, I also add a sense of mode and high-tech to my selection. I guess you could say that my image of this kind of selection is something like Don Quijote's "messy and dangerous" atmosphere.
In the fashion stream, if the main trunk is vintage clothing, culture branches out from there, giving birth to high-tech and street fashion, and so on. I thought it would be great if we could show that feeling in a single store. There are many record stores that express this, but I didn't think there were any clothing stores that did so.
It is true that there is a sense of "messiness" throughout the store.
At SSW, items are changed regularly. The same is true of "FAN," which always has something new to offer.
What kind of staff do you have at the PARCO store?
Ito:Everyone has different hobbies and tastes. They like all kinds of things. There are a few in their early 20s and two in their 30s, including myself. The one who is the same age as me was brought in to run the hot dog shop.
What's a hot dog shop?
Ito:I knew the person who was originally the manager at "Son of the Cheese," and he wanted to join us. I love art and hot dogs, and I wanted to open a restaurant that combines the two.
I see. What kind of art do you think the store will sell?
Ito:I am thinking of turning it into a gallery and hot dog shop, where I will display my favorite European graffiti. There are many galleries that deal with American graffiti, but not many deal with European graffiti, so I would like to specialize in that area. Compared to other countries, the boundary between a painter and graffiti is blurred, and graffiti is very abstract. I have always thought that Europeans are very tolerant of graffiti, and I like the culture of viewing graffiti as if it were a painting, so I would like to do the same in Japan. I would like to open by the end of next year.
What do you do on your days off?
Ito:I go to public baths and saunas with my friends. I like old-fashioned bathhouses full of emotion, but recently I went to an interesting place. It's called "Karumaru" in Ikebukuro, and it has as many attractions as an amusement park. The water bath there is shocking, like a Thunder Tornado? ...It goes around in a circular motion (laughs). It was like a smaller version of a flowing pool, and the heat instantly went away.
It sounds rather tiring, but it sounds interesting!
Ito:In the same vein, "Welby" in Sakae, Nagoya, is also bad. I went there for the sauna, but the water bath was so close to 0°C that my whole body ached. Another place that has recently caught my attention is Yurakusu in Kumamoto. There is a "mad max button," and when you press it, water starts falling down from above.... I would like to somehow connect my business trips to Kumamoto (laughs).
I see that you are reaching out to the rural areas! I would love to find a project in Kumamoto.
Mr. Ito comes to SSW several times a day to ask for a cigarette. They talk about work, products, and this and that.
Finally, what are your ambitions for 2021?
Ito:After Corona, various services have been scrutinized and good services are still in place. Based on this, I would like to make sure that "FAN" and what I would like to do in the future will be selected. I want to do what is right, with the right people, without cutting corners. I want to do what is obvious.
FAN
Place: Shibuya PARCO 3F
Phone: 03-6452-5803
SSW (GEYSERPARCO)
Place: Shibuya PARCO
Phone: 03-6712-7193
