In the past few years, the bag world has often focused on items that are smaller in size, such as sacoches, waist pouches, and personal effects bags.
Aside from large bags used for travel and business trips, daily bags should be as small as possible, and this has become somewhat of a trend.
In the midst of all this, another interesting brand is making its debut. BEAUTY&YOUTH UNITED ARROWS* and <BEAUTY&YOUTH UNITED ARROWS5525 Gallery (5525gallery)The collaborative brand Alery (alery) is the result of the collaboration of TITO, which is also involved in the production of the "Alery" brand.
As you can see, this item has a luxurious image and a sense of class, but it is surprisingly priced from 4,500 yen. It is tactless to talk about things only in terms of price, but even so, the price is shocking.
We asked Mr. Shinya Matsumoto, Creative Director of "UNITED ARROWS* (UA)," and Mr. TITO of "5525 Gallery" about how these products were created and what went into their production.
Left: Shinya Matsumoto, Right: TITO
How did Alleye start?
TITO: First, BY contacted us. We were in a situation where we could not open the store due to the Corona Disaster, so we asked if we could make something to sell online. He asked me if I could make something to sell online. Mr. Matsumoto has been looking after our products for more than 15 years now, so I felt very secure in the fact that I could work with his team. I feel very secure in the fact that I can work with the team at BY.
Matsumoto: This time, the staff came to me with a very enthusiastic project, but I am not the type to be fooled by their enthusiasm (laughs).
But enthusiasm alone is not enough.
Matsumoto: Yes. However, I had the impression that it would be interesting to work with TITO this time and ask them to create inexpensive content. It is not just about selling inexpensive items online, but a combination that can add value to the product.
I know that TITO is involved in a number of other brands, including your own "5525 Gallery," but I thought that "high sensitivity and low price range" like "Alley" was quite new.
Did you start out with a low-priced product?
TITO: No, it's not like that. In my mind, I don't make a distinction between expensive and inexpensive.
So, it's not a matter of doing something because it's expensive or because it's inexpensive.
TITO: Yes. This time, we were asked to make a bag, and I wondered what kind of person would carry this bag. I thought about it. Just because I make bags doesn't mean I think only about bags. Today I am wearing "Nathalie" by "Clarks," and this was the first thing I imagined for this brand. It's not a "desert boot," not a "desert trek," but a "Nathalie.
When you create a brand, you try to think about its surroundings.
TITO: That's right. So if I wanted to make shirts for [Alley], I could do it right away. I thought this project would be interesting if I could match BY's credibility and scale as a retailer with the kind of small-scale manufacturing I usually do.
I understand that this is the mood board that you prepared when you created "Alley".
Matsumoto: When I first saw this, I thought it was me, and I think TITO and I have similar tastes.
TITO: The first thing we proposed was "freedom with rules. UA is a company with overwhelmingly high literacy, so we thought it would be better to have rules and restrictions in manufacturing. I wondered if it would be possible to make the rules seem positive. Also, it is important to have elegance.
I am struck by the fact that only women appear on this mood board.
Matsumoto: Yes. I think that is very good. Alley" is almost entirely a men's product, but it is not based on functionality, but rather on fashion. I am not talking about gender, but if you are going to work in fashion, it is absolutely important to have a women's perspective. Even in the materials I create for men, almost all of them are written by women.
TITO: Compared to women's clothing, men's clothing is much more realistic. When you think about bags for men, they tend to be more business oriented, and you end up arguing that the ultimate cool guy should be empty-handed.
That's true (laughs).
Matsumoto: The concept of "BY" also has the theme of "the sense of beauty that comes from a woman who is free at heart," and I am not talking about gender or that part, but I would like to incorporate women's beauty into men's products. If you don't look at women's fashion, you won't come up with the idea of a drawstring pouch, and I don't think this kind of plump stitching would be born.
I see that the two of you have a common aesthetic sense, and that is an important part of the creation of "Alley".
TITO: I like to look at the current atmosphere, and BY has a lot of quantifiable information about the current market. One of the key points for me was to combine this information.
How do you feel about the finished product, Matsumoto-san?
Matsumoto: I think we have firmly achieved a highly sensitive product at a low price point. Also, more than the price, I thought the simple communication was really nice. It can be held by anyone. I feel that the brand is in good condition to be used by men and women of all ages. I think it goes well with sensible clothes. If you look a little deeper into the concept of "cheap but highly sensitive," I think this is what it means.
TITO: For example, a person wearing a cashmere sweater might feel comfortable with this.
Matsumoto: Yes, it is. It is interesting and new that the cashmere sweater and this synthetic leather go together.
I thought the synthetic leather was also a very nice workmanship.
TITO: Leather was not an option from the beginning. It is very difficult to make a high quality product using leather in this price range. There are many keywords that are current, such as "sustainable" and "animal-free," but it is not that difficult. Also, since the 5525 Gallery has an image of grainy leather, I wanted to use it somewhere, but I didn't want it to be just on the front, so I used it on the back.
Matsumoto: It's a sense of low calories. It's like, "This is a good amount.
TITO: This time, the factory made a lot of suggestions, saying, for example, that there are more zipper pulls like this, but I also like old-fashioned, ordinary pulls. But I also like old-fashioned, ordinary pulls.
Matsumoto: I feel the pulls of "Allely" have a sense of modesty. This is one of the most ordinary pulls among the various types of pulls, but the sense of choosing such a pull is unique to TITO, who has seen many things, including vintage clothing, and I personally think it is trustworthy.
TITO: It's a matter of where to create the extraction point, isn't it? But of course, we don't make products in a low-price range, so we don't make them in a way that says, "This is just fine, right? We don't just make something like, "This is a low-priced product, so it should be fine. We make a tremendous amount of samples each time, and after comparing them with each other, we found this balance. I value the process in everything I do. That may not have changed much in the past.
Are you going to see the factory?
TITO: I used to go there, but now I try not to look. Because if I see a factory, I feel as if I were in the mindset of the makers. I think of what would be comfortable for them. I still shop around, so I try to value my feelings as a consumer that this is what I would like to see.
Matsumoto: I totally understand. The more we look upstream, the more we end up with a weak manufacturing style or a weak market cut. I think that if you don't know, you can think more freely.
I guess that's the advantage of being an amateur.
Matsumoto: Yes. I feel that it will be difficult to create new ideas and products. Of course, there are things that we need to know, and there is trust in those who know.
The price of 4,500 yen and up for something of this quality is very impressive.
TITO: This time, I asked Mr. Matsumoto to set the price. 4,500 yen is a great price that makes people think, "I'll buy it anyway.
Matsumoto: I feel that price is also design. It can be used as a bag-in-a-bag, for example, without being overbearing about carrying it as a proper bag. I think the bags are designed to catch the attention of highly sensitive people.
TITO: As for the price this time, we are making a lot of them, which is why we are able to achieve such a price range, but we just want to keep it fashionable.
What do you mean?
TITO: Whatever you do, you want to think in terms of fashion. I don't want to think in terms of commodities. I don't want to buy a well-made, inexpensive cashmere knit at a convenience store. I want to buy things in the context of fashion literacy and hospitality. In that case, each package has to be well packaged.
I see that "Alley" also has a protective bag to put your bag in.
TITO: When creating a brand, there is a slight difference between showing the total (items) and showing only bags. When you show only bags like [Allely], you have to add something at the end. The fabric is different, but the process is the same as for the 5525 Gallery's protective bags. Just by having it in this bag, it makes a big difference, don't you think?
Matsumoto: TITO is good at doing this kind of thing.
TITO: I thought it was interesting when Mr. Matsumoto told me that this protective bag, the bigger the better.
Matsumoto: If it is the same size as a bag, the scene of use is usually decided, but I thought it could be used in various situations just by being different in size. That's all there is to it.
TITO: When I wash it stiffly, it gets wrinkled like this, but I like it like this.
By the way, the font of "gallery" is the same as "5525gallery", isn't it?
TITO: Yes, it's gallery from gallery. If you take it out as it is, the spacing between the letters is a bit odd, so I've made some minor adjustments.
Matsumoto: I like that name too. It's also low-calorie, and it's kind of a less-is-more. It's like just reducing one letter from the original one.
The font and the atmosphere of the product do not resemble a low-priced product in a good way. And I like the fact that it was not selected to add a sense of luxury to a low-priced product.
Matsumoto: That's right. If we dared to make a logo from scratch to look luxurious and proudly place it on something inexpensive, it would be something a little different.
Which molds did you particularly like?
Matsumoto: I usually carry very little luggage, so I guess I would say this drawstring bag.
TITO: I also have a drawstring bag and a daypack. I wanted to include the essence of something American in my products, and I feel that daypacks are similar to making jeans, so I included them in the lineup this time as well.
Matsumoto: Recently, the cashless trend has arrived at about the same time as Corona, and bags are also changing what they sell.
TITO: When you are making a bag, you can't help but productize it. For example, I think it would be better to have a pocket here and there, or if you want to put a PC in it, you need cushioning material, and so on.
Matsumoto: When a daypack has cushioning material in it, I don't want to carry it on my days off. I feel like I have less freedom.
I think that the functionality of a bag and the sexiness of the item are often incompatible, so this is a difficult area to deal with.
TITO: It's not that I don't think about functionality and usability either. However, I would like to make various improvements after actually using the product myself, rather than thinking about various things on the tabletop.
I know it's early days yet, but is there a possibility that you will sell the product outside of the online market?
Matsumoto: Yes, there is. It's not about being a waste of time.
I'm glad to hear that. I hope many people will actually hold it in their hands and see it for themselves. I think they will be really surprised.
Matsumoto: Yes, that's right. There are various bags, but I think they are not similar to any of them.
I'm looking forward to seeing more products other than bags from "Alley" in the future, but first of all, I'm looking forward to seeing how these six models will be received by the market.
Photo_Masayuki Nakaya (expect item photo)
