G-Star RAW resonates with actor Hiiragihei Uesugi's roots
G-Star RAW, which has been attracting more attention than ever in the fashion and culture scene since Pharrell Williams became one of its major investors earlier this year, is launching a new campaign this season called "What is RAW? What is RAW? The campaign campaign is called "What is RAW?" The campaign aims to reexamine the core of G-Star RAW, which is aiming for a higher level as a brand, and the actor Hiiragi Uesugi, who has been closely connected with the culture of music and fashion since his childhood, wears the brand's clothes in places he has a connection with, and talks about the core of his own personality. He talked about the core of himself.
An up-and-coming actor who has been attracting attention from a wider range of audiences since his regular appearance in the NHK television series "Toto Anechan. With various cultures as his backbone, he is making daily efforts as an expressive artist. He is currently starring in the TBS drama series "Suna no tou - Shiranai kattekita todo neibito" ("Tower of Sand - The Neighbor Who Knew Too Much").
I would like to ask you about your background.
I am originally from Setagaya, and moved to Yokohama when I was small. However, I went to school in Machida, where there is an escalator from elementary school to university, so I don't really feel local to Yokohama. I often hung out with my school friends. I started listening to various kinds of music when I was about to enter junior high school with friends who are still close to me and are now working hard in the music field. I even tried playing in a band for a while. I played guitar (laughs). I liked movies from that time, and my friends and I often went to see movies together. My mother was also a movie buff, so we watched a lot of movies. At school, for nine years in elementary and middle school, I was taught how to think about my life and how to deal with people who were important to me.
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Did you move to a different environment after high school?
When I was about 14 years old, I felt threatened by the fact that I didn't know anything about the outside world, and I wanted to go outside. I thought, "Where is the outside? I thought, "Where is the farthest outside? I managed to persuade my parents to let me study abroad. I wanted to go to a town where there were no Japanese people, so I searched around and found a town called Wollongong in rural Australia. I went there. In the first week I was there, my money was stolen, and I couldn't understand what they were saying because I didn't speak any English at all. (laughs) I spent three years like that. I was in the regular course, but the school was famous for ballet, theater, and musicals, and students came from all over Australia to study there. Every week I would watch my friends rehearse on stage. There was a male ballet company, and they were really cool. And the father of my homestay family was also a stage director. He used to show me his rehearsals and I thought it was interesting. That's when my interest in theater began to grow.
So you started modeling after you returned to Japan, and then decided to become an actor.
After returning to Japan, I started modeling as a part-time job, and it was like I was ignited by the desire to express what I really wanted to do. I decided that if I was going to express myself, I wanted to do acting, so I made up my mind and went down the path I am on now. That was about two years ago.
I see. It seems to me, from what you have told us, that so-called cultural things have always existed in the environment you have spent your life in.
That's right. Music, movies, and clothes were a natural part of my lifestyle. I went to junior high school in plain clothes, so I naturally had a high awareness of what to wear. The influence of my seniors was especially strong. When I was in the first grade of junior high school, seniors in the third grade looked very mature. Many of them had their own style and fashion, so I imitated them and became interested in clothes. After entering high school in Australia, there were many skaters around me, so I was attracted to skater fashion. I was attracted to skater fashion because there were a lot of skaters around me after I entered high school in Australia. I thought the stitching on the back pockets was really cool, so I bought a pair of G-Star RAW indigo skinny denims myself when I went on a trip to Sydney.
Today's shooting took place in Aoyama and Ebisu, both places that are associated with Mr. Uesugi. Do you have a strong attachment to these cities?
Of course, it also means that I was there often. I also spent time in Shibuya and Shimokitazawa. But more than that, I think Tokyo is a city of people. They are building towns where people can gather. The environment I am referring to is the people, including the city. There is a city called Tokyo, and people gather there, meet each other, and create an environment. People who have the city in their background. The people I grew up with are all very sensitive and have unique antennae. I think I have a strong attachment to Tokyo because I have lived in such an environment, being influenced by and giving to others. If I had grown up in a different place, I would not be where I am today.
This season, G-Star RAW is running a campaign called "What is RAW? Similarly, what is the one thing that will never change for you, Mr. Uesugi?
More often than not, things haven't changed. That's why we are where we are today. It is rather difficult to find something that has changed, which means that nothing has changed. That's philosophical (laughs). What has changed? When I look back at my inner self, of course my work has changed, but I don't think it's about that. I am influenced by the people around me, I honestly think the people I respect are great, and I cherish my family and the people I care about. I haven't changed since I was a child. I wear clothes that I think are cool, listen to music, watch movies, and now I am on the side of doing and expressing these things. I don't think my stance of pursuing what I like has really changed. If anything has changed, it is the situation I am in. I think I have come to a place where I can express what I think is cool. I don't think the fundamental things that are at the core of me have changed after all. I think I need to be at the forefront of the current world in order to firmly express my stance. To do so, I have to dress up and sometimes do things that are out of character for me. Some people may say I am losing sight of that, but I have a goal in mind, and I am not losing sight of it, nor am I blurring the line between it and my own. So, I don't care what people around me say. As long as I am Hiiragihei, I will never change.
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The Fall/Winter 2016 brand campaign "What is RAW?" focuses on the word "RAW," which is part of the brand name. In addition to the campaign visuals in which Pharrell is surrounded by various staff members working within the company, we will explore the meaning of "RAW" through a short movie in which these staff members talk honestly about what beliefs they have in manufacturing. Please check it out along with the campaign site.