HONEYEE更新的清永浩文&藤原浩的訪談,
主題是UNIFORM EXPERIMENT,
這個由兩人合作的新企劃確定在08年開跑,而這篇英文訪談搞,
剛好紀錄著UNIFORM EXPERIMENT的一些細節,
有興趣的自己慢慢看,這篇只是怕文章消失來備份的XD
藤原浩(Hiroshi Fujiwara) 清永浩文(Hirofumi Kiyonaga)
UNIFORM EXPERIMENT is a new clothing brand directed by SOPH. and Hiroshi Fujiwara to start from the S/S ’08 collection. Surprisingly, the line will center around items such as men’s suits and ties. Wait a minute… Hiroshi Fujiwara made a suit with SOPH.? What are their intentions behind starting a new brand like this?
── First off, I want to make sure about something: will "UNIFORM EXPERIMENT" be officially a new SOPH brand?
Hirofumi Kiyonaga (HK)
Head of SOPH.co.,ltd. (HK): I haven’t set out a clear definition of the line yet. (smiles) But it's a new brand, and everything is done by our in-house staff. We included the word 'EXPERIMENT' in the brand's name to signify the style and the concept and the attitude. The format of the entire brand is one of our experiments too. We are carrying out a new experiment - through trial and error.
── More than aiming to start a new brand, you had the idea to make the line and that developed into the brand?
HK:Yes. The spark behind it was a men's suit project with Nike. When I joined the project, Hiroshi-san told me what he thought about the recent suit situation in Japan. And since I have long had my own ideas about suits, the timing and the other factors just came together perfectly for starting a new brand.
Hiroshi Fujiwara (HF)
I think that a specific percentage of customers who buy lots of items by Head Porter, A Bathing Ape and Undercover wear a business suit daily. I thought it would be a good idea if we could supply nice suits for the people like them. That was the first step of our plan, I guess.
── To sum up, the kids who loved and supported the culture and styles advocated by Hiroshi Fujiwara have now grown up and are wearing suits. So they needed a clothing line that fits an “adult lifestyle,” and you've decided to make the business gear for them.
HF:They are people who much prefer casual clothes but have to wear a suit daily, and they don’t have much in the way of options. In a certain sense, people like me ignored this market too.
── People might think your line sits between street casual and business suits. But actually, it’s not like that. It’s closer to more orthodox men's suits or trad...
HK:To tell you the truth, I wanted to go further, but at the beginning, we designed more casual items, and the base of Hiroshi-san's fashion style is trad anyway, right? His brand GOOD ENOUGH had a lot of trad taste to it. So, I suggested trad items for the S/S season line. The theme is “trad that we'd currently like to wear.” So, the line strongly captures the trad flavor.
HF:What I often hear is, “It’s so easy to wear a suit.” According to these people, a suit is similar to a school or combat uniform, and everyone always looks good in it. When you have to wear non-suit stuff, picking the items is hard. First, you have to choose a jacket, then they have to think about what to do about the shirt or a sweater and the pants, etc. and this makes a lot of people give up. They’ll say, “What a pain.” But the situation has changed now. Street wear is also like a uniform., It's just a prearranged style: if you wear oversized sweat shirts, then you choose oversized pants. Casual clothing shouldn’t be a uniform, but nowadays, it is turning into a uniform.
── Yes, I agree with you that it’s gone too far in that direction. Because of that fact, a lot of people might think the S/S '08 line for "UNIFORM EXPERIMENT" feels fresh.
HF:Well, I have no idea. For example, I can get a sense of what people think if the media or buyers say it's cool. But I am not sure if customers will actually buy a suit from UNIFORM EXPERIMENT.
HK:There is too much information about casual clothes these days. The media only pushes people to buy casual clothes. So, everyone hesitates to spend money on a suit. A suit is a just seen as a uniform for a business hours, and no one wants to use money for that. Everyone tends to spend money for having fun on the weekends. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but we would like to adjust the balance between spending on casual and suits.
── Hiroshi-san, if I may say so, it seems like UNIFORM EXPERIMENT for you is just something you are “proposing.” If you are making suits and ties, you are not actually going to wear them. How did you make a decision on your recommended style?
HF:Kiyonaga-kun picked out our best ideas from our brainstorming. Then he designed them, and after that, I advised him on the designs. For instance, I advised him on the textile pattern, saying like "How about using a Madras checkered patter?" I couldn't direct the brand just by myself. In general, I don't wear a suit, and I have no opportunity to wear one. So, Kiyonaga-kun brought me to New York City and brainwashed me.
HK:I not only brought him to different cities around the world but I also followed him there. We went to both urban cities and resorts together. I strongly feel that our experiences were reflected in the line.
── Were you greatly inspired by the travel?
HF:Yes, it was a big influence. In these situations, we had more chances to hang out together. We’d be walking down the street, and if I found something cool, I would tell Kiyonaga-kun about the idea immediately.
HK:Our first meetings started at breakfast. (laughs)
HF:I often hit on a great idea during a conversation. So that was the fastest way to do things.
── I see. Your relationship is the source of creativity.
HK:Some people wonder what Hiroshi-san’s role is in UNIFORM EXPERIMENT. I think Hiroshi-san provides me with the right mood. To be more specific, Hiroshi-san lets me see his world. I am being a bit vague here, but it's like that..
HF:Talking about collaboration ── well, I actually don't want to use the word “collaboration” ── a fair, 50-50 balance is important for me when I collaborate with someone else or corporations. I am not talking about the name values or the economic balance between the two parties. If someone asks me without having that spirit, it means he just wants to use my name for selling merchandise. That party is going to take advantage of me, and I won’t feel that I am collaborating with someone to create something. I try to keep away from people and companies like that. But, that situation is spreading all over the world now. I would like to do something like Tiffany and Rolex’s relationship. Tiffany says they would like to collaborate with Rolex and sell a double-named watch, because Tiffany admits Rolex is a great company that creates fabulous watches. That's an ideal relationship for me when I work with somebody.
HK:This is an extreme case, but the first thing I hear out of people’s mouths when I tell them I have collaborated with Hiroshi-san is, “Oh, where is Hiroshi’s thunder logo?” I kind of barked back after hearing this, and said, “No, our collaboration is different.” There are enough “Hiroshi Fujiwara icons” available already. I don’t want to create an another icon. I won't do that, but it was necessary to include Hiroshi-san's tastes in the clothes in some way. That was my theme for the collaboration.
── Basically, you two pursued a clear conception of “UNIFORM EXPERIMENT” and tried to create something special, truly worthy of being called UNIFORM EXPERIMENT's items.
HK:I think we are able to lay the foundations of the brand through this first collection. Or, I'd can say it's the true theme of this first collection. I was able to reflect the brand's identity in the main items, such as the shirts, jackets and pants. Those can be called very UNIFORM EXPERIMENT-ish items. I think so, at least.
HF:I’d like to rethink the merchandise. I intend to research suits more and would like to put out a tuxedo shirt or something.
HK:Yes, exactly. It might be fun to manufacture a tuxedo for the people in our culture. For instance, suspenders are symbols of “formal wear,” but they can be used in informal dress too. I believe we can alter formal dress and can create a new image.
── Hiroshi-san, you are good at that kind of thing. You always take established brands and remix them to fit your style.
HF:Yeah, but I have started to think that maybe I’ve overdone that (smiles)
HK:Oh! Why!? (laughs)
HF:I don't mean I’ve spread myself too thin. There were a lot of ideas that I only helped on a little bit that I already felt like I had done before. Everyone tends to totally forget about the plans or I only helped a little bit anyway, so I shouldn’t really worry about it. I should probably just hit “reset.” But I don't think it's a good idea to push the reset button by myself, so I want somebody else to push it instead of me.
HK:Yes, it's our duty to push the button. But if you have too many buttons, the task will be beyond our abilities. (laughs)
── From that point of view, the partner who tries to bring out Hiroshi-san's creativity must play an important role in the work.
HK:For instance, it isn’t hard to reflect Hiroshi-san's creativity in the clothes even though Hiroshi-san never wore them himself.
── How will you try to let customers know about UNIFORM EXPERIMENT? Can you give me an idea what kind of positioning you want to establish? Do you have a clear vision regarding the brand.
HF:Well, not yet. Everything is an “experiment” - even that.
── You mean, you used the word “experiment” for the brand name, because the brand's existence itself is experimental too.
HK:Yes, I think so. The market and price zone are also experimental, and there's a possibility that we will change the sales policy, etc. in near future too.
HF:Well, let’s plan a new trip somewhere to think about the future. (laughs.)
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