notebook that records every day of clothing worn by customers
Creating without culture. AOR remixes by Keiji Kaneko.

Bow shaving: I had been doing women's wear for a long time, and since the brand bore my name, I felt that I had to project my own identity. However, after being in the business for so long, I had to think about business. I started receiving only custom orders, and I was not able to reflect my own creations as much as I wanted to. As a fashion designer, I felt that stress for a long time. I decided at that time to get out of the fashion business.

Kaneko: You were trapped to that point.

Bow shaving: I was quite worried. So I closed the brand once. I had always wanted to work in music with fashion. I am also a DJ and have been digging for records at record shops since I was a teenager, but I started Adult Oriented Records because I wanted to create a record shop that was like a fashion boutique.

Bow shaving: AOR = Adult Oriented Rock" means "rock from an adult's perspective," but I thought that if I interpreted it in my own way, it would mean "sophistication. I wanted to create a record store with that keyword, and someday I also wanted to start a fashion brand derived from it.

Kaneko: Wow! I didn't know there was such a story.

Bow shaving: However, if I say too much, it will come across as intrusive (laughs).

Kaneko: You try not to say too much, don't you? You are expressing such a concept in a casual manner.

Bow shaving: It was difficult to strike a balance between the two. Our clothes have QR codes on them that can be read to download music.

Bow shaving: That's right. That is how I embody my identity, but if I don't transmit it, it will be forgotten, and if I transmit it too much, it will be too colored. Music is an added bonus, but there is a culture of collecting extra stickers, like Bikkuriman chocolates. Somewhere there is a faint hope for this. I am hoping that music fans will collect our music.

Bow shaving: I am conscious of the silhouettes of the 80s and 90s. I want to capture the essence of Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, and Comme des Garcons.

Bow shaving: I have been aware of this from the very beginning.

Kaneko: I have always felt that the silhouettes and details of AOR's clothes are strangely balanced, and what you just said made it all clear to me. Mixing these three brands is an idea that I would not have thought of.

Bow shaving: Giorgio Armani is just an image. I always think about how to wear such clothes in a cool way. That's why the set-up is essential to the brand.

Kaneko: After all, the set-up is the face of the brand, isn't it? When you first started the brand, you had more models, didn't you?

Bow shaving: At first, we only had set-ups. However, it was difficult to sell only set-ups, so we started designing other clothes while imagining how they could be worn in today's street fashion. I tried to design other clothes while imagining how they could be worn on today's streets. I wanted to be able to think freely, such as wearing a down jacket or a down vest with a set-up. Giorgio I imagine a suit by Giorgio Armani with the lightness of a Ralph Lauren suit.

Bow shaving: The visuals of the 80s and 90s are still in my mind. I was a very young TV kid. The most vivid impression I have is from 1984 to 1992. It was the eve of the bubble economy and the middle of the bubble economy. The reason why I upload commercials from that time on my Instagram is because my mind has been dominated by the memories of that time. Japan had the most money at that time, and anything was possible.

Kaneko: Yes, those were the days, weren't they?

Bow shaving: People in their 20's at that time were very mature in terms of their clothes, wearing DC brand suits, and those with more money were wearing Giorgio Armani. I saw that when I was a child and admired it. I admired these people when I was a child, and I wanted to grow up as soon as possible (laughs). In the late 90s, the context of American hip-hop culture and British acid jazz entered the streets, and fashion suddenly became more casual.

Kaneko: I see. It was like that, wasn't it? At that time, I only looked at American casual clothes and vintage clothes that I liked. I read all the magazines, but I had no knowledge of the culture that Mr. Yumigami talked about.

Kaneko: Well, nothing left an impression on me at the time (laughs).

Bow shaving: We were around junior high school age when those were popular, and we were at the age when we were either interested in fashion or not. So all we have left is the image of it. From the end of junior high school until I entered high school, it was all about American casual.

Kaneko: I had the impression of seeing the styling of Giorgio Armani and others in magazines, but it didn't suit me because of my body type. So, without understanding their appeal, I gravitated toward different styles.

Bow shaving: Perhaps the generation 10 years older than ours is in the middle.

Kaneko: I started working in a clothing store at the age of 18. I was working in a mass merchandiser at the time, and we sold soft suits all the time. But I had never worn such clothes at all.

Bow shaving: That was 1991 or so. While fashionable young people in Tokyo were expressing American casual, the fashion on TV was still soft suits. I was a big TV kid, so the visuals remained in my mind.

Kaneko: It means that there is no link between the street fashion of the time and the fashion trends.

Bow shaving: That's right. Tokyo streets were American casual. But I admired "Giorgio Armani, I had a longing for it. I wanted to express that somewhere. I dreamed of a lifestyle of wearing a nice suit, driving a nice car, and dating a beautiful girlfriend (laughs).

Kaneko: We have been on a parallel track all the way here. As I mentioned earlier, when I saw the visuals for "AOR," I felt that they were firmly incorporated into the fashion.

Once upon a time, I worked with a stylist who did visuals for "AOR" to make a jacket so big it would kill you, and we sold it at "Reshop. The form at that time was similar to that of "AOR," so I was somewhat immune. It was big, but it was a proper jacket.

Kaneko: Yes, it is. It's hard to put it into words, but it's not just a matter of being big enough. AOR's jackets have a good balance, or rather, a form that even I can wear. My shoulders are quite peculiar, and there are only a few things that I can wear well. But I also felt that AOR's clothes have a versatility that can be worn by everyone. The balance between the two is truly exquisite, and I think that's what attracted me to the brand.

Bow shaving: That may be so. Anyone can wear Ralph Lauren. The great thing about this brand is that it not only produces clothes, but also goods, and is involved in all aspects of daily life. That's how Ralph Lauren has built its worldview. Lauren" is built up through this process.

Kaneko: Indeed. That would be amazing.

Bow shaving: I am greatly influenced by the way he creates his worldview. He is the person who established American fashion.

Kaneko: Yumiko, you have a preppy feel to you somehow.

Bow shaving: I think there may be. I went to the Kuwasawa Design School with the idea of becoming a designer from a young age, and at the time I was wearing Comme des Garçons clothes with Levi's® "Big E". At the time, I was wearing "BIG E" by Levi's® with clothes from COMME des GARÇONS. There was a time when I was out of balance, combining beautiful things with vintage clothes, and making it my own individuality. I still feel that way today. I want to break things up, but I also want to keep a beautiful part of myself in there somewhere.

Kaneko: Yes, it's casual, but it's clean.