When we collaborate, we want to create something equal.
And this time, for the 20th anniversary, you made this down jacket.
NEXUSVII. x Decente Allterrain x Haroshi MOUNTAINEER ¥173,800 Based on the Mountaineer, the highest grade down jacket using Mizusawa down produced by Descente Ortelaine, NEXUSⅦ. has added its own design to this piece. The silhouette of the body width and armholes was reviewed, tailored to be oversized, and the pockets were improved. Normally, watertight zips are used for the zippers, but watertight VISLON fasteners were used to enhance durability. The neck zipper has a one-touch opening system used in fireman's first-aid uniforms, allowing the hood to be easily removed without removing the garment. The lining of the body is made of a skateboard pattern fabric used in Haroshi's book "HAROSHI(2003-2021)" published just this year, and the lining of the hood is made of a fabric dyed with board dust from the production of his works. The hood lining is made of a fabric dyed with dye made from board dust from the production of the work.
Konno:This is the first time I have worked with Haroshi on a product, and I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do together for the 20th anniversary. But Haroshi knows a lot about clothes, and I wanted to do something that he would enjoy.
At the NEXUSⅦ. exhibition, people order clothes that are to the taste of the experts. I had no intention of making something half-baked from the start, but I knew I had to put a lot of effort into it.
Mitsuru Yamada, a classmate of mine from high school, is the creative director of Descente Ortelaine, and since Mizusawa Down is the pinnacle of down jacket products and I like it myself, I asked him to let me work on various projects.
The "Mountaineer," which is one of the highest grade products in the "Descente Ortelaine" line, is the base of this product, isn't it?
Konno:Although it is not something that can be modified very much, I had a unique NEXUSⅦ. design transplanted to the pockets and diamond-patterned elbow pads, which are also used in military wear, attached to the elbows. We also changed the zips to Bislon fasteners. We also enlarged the silhouette and made it one size fits all.
Haroshi, are you involved in the lining?
Konno:That's right. For the lining of the body, I used the cover pattern from a book published this year, and for the hood, I used the powder from Haroshi's skateboarding as a dye, and dyed the fabric for the hood lining.
Haroshi:I couldn't throw away the wood chips from the production process, so I decided that rather than throw them away, I would turn them into powder, and I kept them for a long time. Skateboards are made of colored plywood, and for example, if you cut off the red part, you get red powder, and if you cut off the blue layer, you get blue powder. Every time I switched layers, I had to clean the skateboard and collect the powder from the new layer.
Konno:I kept all of them in different colors. We received the powder and dyed it, so the amount we could make was limited. There are five colors in total, but they are all assorted, so you cannot choose a color.
I decided to limit the yellowish-green color to my family members only. Only 20 pieces are being made, and I plan to have Haroshi's autograph on them. I am planning to have Haroshi's autograph on them.
Haroshi:I even hired a part-timer to take this powder, but I didn't know why I was doing it. I wanted to use it for something, but I couldn't find a way to make use of it. I just couldn't bear to throw it away. So when Mr. Konno approached me, I thought that perhaps I could use it to dye fabrics, and I made a proposal.
Konno:Nexus VII. dyes roses, gentians, and Yakusugi cedar naturally, and I happened to know of a background that had such special dyeing techniques, so I asked them about it and they replied, "Yes, we can do it. Apparently, they have a machine that can turn powder particles into paste, and they have a patent for it. So I asked them for a favor.
Haroshi:A skateboard board is made of maple. They are colored with pigments. So, I thought that if NEXUSⅦ. was dyeing naturally, it would be possible to do this as well. If they were mixed a little, the colors would change, so I carefully watched the layers as I worked.
I didn't realize the colors were so clear.
Konno:I am so glad that the factory had the technology to do this. If we had not been able to do this, we would have had to borrow only the pattern for the lining. When collaborating, I wanted to make the production as equal as possible, and I wanted to properly show the essence of Haroshi's work. So being able to dye the lining with skateboarding powder was a great performance for me.
Haroshi:However, it is hard to imagine what kind of technology it takes to make a paste from a powder already in powder form. It is an amazing technology.
Konno:The person in charge explained it to me, but I won't go into it too much here because it is too advanced and is also a trade secret (laughs). (Laughs) However, because of this process, I put a label on the inside of the body that explains that the fabric is dyed using a special technique from used skateboards.
Is this the first time you have used this powder to make something?
Haroshi:For the past 10 years, I haven't been able to find any use for them. I had some ideas to make clay or to put them in test tubes and use them as works of art, but I am not that conceptual an artist, so I decided against it (laughs).
