What Vintage Clothing Can Teach Us About Fashion.
Do the two of you know each other?
Yoshikawa:This is the first time we've had a chance to talk like this.
Fujiwara:Were we the same age?
Yoshikawa:I am one year younger than Mr. Fujiwara. So we are of the same generation. I have seen some of his style samples in magazines. You paired denim with geta, right?
Fujiwara:I'm from Kochi Prefecture, and I went all the way to Chuo Park in Kochi City to be in the snapshot (laughs). I am from Kochi Prefecture, and I went all the way to Central Park in Kochi City to be in the article. I went all the way to Chuo Park in Kochi City to be featured in the snapshot, and when I was approached, I thought, "Okay! I thought, "Okay!
Yoshikawa:I am from Niigata, and I have always admired that kind of thing. Did you start with "BOON" magazine?
Fujiwara:. At first it was "Checkmate" and "Men's Non-No. Then, around the third year of junior high school, I started reading "BOON" and was shocked .
Yoshikawa:That's right. I started with "BOON. When I was in the second year of junior high school, the Barcelona Olympics were held and the NBA Dream Team was formed. Bash was featured in a magazine, and I wore them to school even though I was on the baseball team. After that, I started reading "Checkmate" and "Men's Non-No.
Fujiwara:I lived in the countryside, where there were no "BOON" convenience stores. My father was in the apparel business, and I was going through the clothes in his closet. Of course, I went to "BEAMS" in Kochi, admired the staff, and bought replica jeans from "Levi's®. Later, I saw a high school senior wearing vintage denim, and I was totally influenced by him.
Yoshikawa:When I was in high school, I saved up money while working part-time and bought a pair of "501" S-type jeans. At the time, they were still in the 30,000 yen range.
Fujiwara:It was cheaper in rural areas than in Tokyo. I have a memory of saving my allowance and buying a "Big E" for about 45,000 yen.
. What is your impression of "BEAMS" from your point of view?
Fujiwara:I have been working at Berber Gin since I was 21 years old. Before the current store on Tonchan Dori, there was a place called "Harajuku Juha Shop" on a street behind Takeshita Dori, where our president and vice president started the business. I used to visit there often, and at that time, it was a store that was known only to those in the know, so I helped out by handing out flyers and other such activities.
Yoshikawa:So it was.
Fujiwara:The executives of the current "BEAMS" were working at the store at the time, and they would come to the store to shop. When our representative would come back from a shopping trip, people would come to the store in droves, and every month they would leave with the items they had ordered (laughs).
Yoshikawa:Wow! There was such a time, wasn't there?
Fujiwara:When I visited BEAMS, I saw that all the staff members were wearing vintage clothes, and they looked really cool. I saw them in magazines and looked at them with admiration.
The staff members are all very fashionable, especially in Harajuku, and the presence of "BEAMS" there is very encouraging to me as someone who also works in Harajuku. Of course, it is also great that you are doing this on a national scale.
Yoshikawa:Thank you very much. I am from the same generation as you, Fujiwara-san, and vintage clothing is a great gateway to fashion. When I was still in my teens, I used to go to vintage clothing stores in Harajuku whenever I visited Tokyo.
After moving to Tokyo, I worked at a select store before joining BEAMS. Of course, Berberzine was one of them, and I could get an idea of the current vintage clothing trends and market, and if you went to the basement, you could find a treasure zone.
. By learning about vintage clothing, we can not only learn about the history of clothing, but also deepen our understanding of fashion.
Fujiwara:I have been going to various secondhand clothing stores since I was young, and I have even been to Chiba and other cities, where I have made new discoveries. But on the other hand, I also learn from my customers. When I first started working at "Berberzine," I saw the staff of "BEAMS" asking our representative to buy them items when they came as customers, and I learned that such clothes were also available. I learned a lot from customers in this way.
What is it about vintage clothing that appeals to you?
Yoshikawa:After all, it is an encounter, isn't it? When you meet an attractive outfit and it fits you perfectly, you feel like "I've met someone! I feel like I've met someone. I love that kind of once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
Fujiwara:I think the other big thing is that it can be a sampling source. From there, new designs will be born, won't they?
Yoshikawa:I often work on original products, but I believe that knowing vintage clothing leads to good craftsmanship. Knowledge of vintage clothing is more persuasive than making products without knowledge. So, I am always conscious of this.
I get the impression that you basically only wear secondhand clothes, but do you sometimes see clothes that pay homage to secondhand clothes?
Fujiwara:Of course I do. As an advisor, I often lend vintage items for sampling. It is interesting to see, while looking at various clothes at exhibitions, that "this is a sampling of that item," or "this is an addition of details from that and that outfit. I often learn from these ideas.
Do you ever actually wear it?
Fujiwara:I've decided not to wear old clothes on my days off, so that's when I wear them.
Yoshikawa:Is that so?
Fujiwara:Sometimes when I go shopping with my family, I meet customers and they say, "Oh, what? You're not wearing old clothes" (laughs).
Yoshikawa:That was unexpected (laughs).
Fujiwara:Secondhand clothes are like a uniform for work, so I have already decided to wear new clothes when I am completely off duty. Therefore, I visit exhibitions as if I were going to see clothes for holidays (laughs).
