The challenges and future of a brand specializing in pants with a factory and no physical store.

Featuring Make Sense Laboratory

The challenge and future of a brand specializing in pants that has a factory and no physical store.

Make Sense Laboratory〉, which just started in February 2018, is a brand that deals only with bottoms. The brand aims to continue releasing new items every three months, without being tied to the usual seasonal collections of spring/summer and fall/winter. And the greatest feature of the brand is that it does not have a physical store, but only an e-commerce site. Why sell only pants on the Internet, where the perceived and actual sizes and silhouettes are most likely to differ in men's fashion? There was a solid reason for competing in this category, where it is difficult to take a step forward without seeing yourself in the garment, without trying it on. We took a peek into the vision of Mr. Suzuki, the representative of "Triple Arch Works," who wishes to pursue his commitment to craftsmanship and create a new sense of value in customer service, although he is only in the preparatory stage of this project.

  • Text_Masayuki Ozawa
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The level of manufacturing in the family home, as realized through experience.

The foundation of Mr. Suzuki's idea of manufacturing is his family's factory, which has been in business for 92 years. This was due to an increase in orders for jacket underwear, or slacks, from such well-known luxury department stores as Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya. Originally, pants were the most well-equipped in terms of facilities and machinery, and the company gained a good reputation from its clients, leading to increased specialization. Soka City in Saitama Prefecture, where the factory is located, was originally an area with many textile factories, but now there are only a few, including Daiichi Hifuku. In this era, when the production background has been shifted to Asian countries with low labor costs and high profit margins have become the mainstream, made-in-Japan products with high labor costs have become a viable option, unlike in the past.

For Mr. Suzuki, however, the sight of his immediate family and artisans continuing to make pants has been ingrained in him as a matter of course since childhood. Currently, there are six craftsmen. Suzuki, who entered the workforce in the 1990s and became involved in the apparel industry himself, is of the generation that was baptized into the American casual culture and imports. After working as a store staff member and buyer, and traveling abroad, he realized once again the meticulousness and care of Japanese-made products and the deep attention to detail that goes into them. It was then that he realized the excellence of the workmanship of Daiichi Hifuku, which he had continued to see without thinking, and which was so close to his daily life.

I have thought since the 1990s that although the materials used for foreign-made items were good, the sewing techniques were superior to those used in Japan. What I realized after being exposed to many imports was the story that their appeal was only that they were imported. When that became the norm as I went back and forth to foreign countries, I couldn't find the next piece of clothing I wanted. And although the environment in which I grew up had a large influence, I came to value quality more than story.

Pants that follow the scene, guided by quality.

The concept of "Make Sense Laboratory" is to cut out the "SCENE. This is a 180-degree turn from the days of "STUDIO ORIBE," which concentrated on creating masterpieces that were standard items, and a stance that goes one step further. Mr. Suzuki felt the need for pants that could care not only about the product, but also about the wearer. One thing that Daiichikuhofu has always insisted on is "ease of sewing.

Easy-to-sew" pants are equal to "easy to put on" pants. Easy to wear means that they follow the lines of the body. If the pattern of pants that connects the dots has unreasonable curves, the silhouette will naturally become unstable. Such pants are unique, but they are difficult to sew and uncomfortable for the wearer. In order to provide comfort that is appropriate for each situation, it is necessary to make full use of all kinds of patterns, and the craftsman's attention to detail makes this possible. Mr. Suzuki thought of somehow combining the needs of the times with the handiwork of craftsmen, which is one of our strengths.

The first delivery consists of five items. TEBURA" for not being bothered by small details, "IGOKOCHI" for fitting in a comfortable place for all people, "NOMADO" for enjoying a drive or flight in comfort, "OYOBARE" for places where a little dress code is required, and "HAIKARA" for enjoying a quiet and stylish life at a movie theater or museum. HAIKARA" for enjoying quiet fashion at movie theaters, museums, and other places. How to fit cotton, wool, polyester, and other fabrics with different characteristics into the scene? By deeply communicating the meaning of each fabric and its particular characteristics, consumers will be able to shop with conviction. After thinking about this, the best communication method we arrived at was the Internet.

First of all, the premise is that pants are easier to create a standard for oneself than tops, and the style of wearing them all the time can be attractive. However, people who can change their clothes for different occasions are still fashionable, and I think they genuinely enjoy the act. Fashion is not an obligation, but something that is fun, so I would like many people to recall each lifestyle scene and choose appropriate pants. Visualizing scenes is a difficult task, even in customer service" (Suzuki)

The brand may be characterized as leading the fit to the scene with materials and details rather than silhouettes. The fabrics and materials selected are basically all high quality, unmade-up materials. In other words, they are supposed to be able to withstand deterioration over time without unnecessary processing. We are also sensitive to price. When you open a store or focus on wholesale, the cost is inevitably added to the top cost. In order to use convincing fabrics and offer them at a fair price, the decision to not have a physical store and to serve customers only with their own words and letters on the Internet makes a certain amount of sense today.

Of course, there are many things that are impossible to achieve today, just after the launch of the site, but in the future, they will incorporate a system that allows them to listen to users' voices, rather than just sending out information one way. It would be better to think of the current site as still pre-opening. Incidentally, the current lineup of products are all priced around 15,000 yen. This price for a made-in-Japan product is, to use a hackneyed phrase, nothing short of a corporate effort.

While understanding the disadvantages of buying over the Internet, we will compete by increasing the advantages we can convey over them. For this reason, information and handling of shipping and returns is also important today. It is a question of being both fast and courteous, while at the same time giving a sense of reality. This will be the challenge for the future of online sales.

Some may see the online sales of "Make Sense Laboratory" as a backward-looking decision, but it is a challenging stance aimed at making the site transparent and direct sales. How can we deliver the arms of a factory that we believe in to as many consumers as possible? Without face-to-face negotiation, we convey our hidden thoughts by giving out as much information as we can, respond in a user-friendly manner, and deliver products in a comfortable and hassle-free and loss-free manner. When we can feel these things more directly than in a real store, we may be able to see the future of this brand, and by extension, the future of domestic brands. First of all, however, why don't we pay attention to the happy imbalance between the quality of pants and the price?

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