Because only experience should not lie.
. "Discomfort" is very important, isn't it?
Kaneko:It may seem like I'm adding a lot, but I'm actually subtracting, I guess you could say. In the end, I think we have created something with the same tension as the prototype (452U). . I think we have created something that will stay with us. . Perhaps that feeling was so strong that the initial special order items have been selling for a long time. It has been four and a half years since we started the reshop, and we have come this far without being called "old," so I think my original intention may have worked. It has always been a theme in my mind to create something that is current, but that I would not be ashamed of 10 years from now.
Do you have any certainty about your project before it is released to the world , when you are still developing the idea?
Kaneko:As you can see, I am the type of person who misunderstands things (laughs), so I was very sure. (Laughs.) I think that's partly why I'm doing so well. Like an athlete who is not that good, but somehow became a pro because of a misunderstanding. However, I have been working in a clothing store since I was 18 years old, and it has been more than 20 years since then, and I am sure that my experience is not a lie.
By the way, what were you doing before you launched "Reshop"?
Kaneko:First of all, I worked at the mass merchandiser I mentioned earlier for four years. My father told me, "Whatever you do, do it for four years. Then I quit and joined BAYCREW'S when I was about the end of my 22nd year. Somehow, I was assigned to a women's store called "Spic and Span" (laughs). (Laughs.) I went to an interview for a job at "Edifice," but I didn't get the job. ...... From there, I had a tough two years of selling to women, something I was not used to doing. So when I was finally transferred to "Edifice," I became a buyer rather quickly.
I'm sorry to hear about your unexpected career. Is your experience in women's work useful to you now?
Kaneko:I think so. . I was taught a great deal about work ethic. Women are amazing, their enthusiasm for their work and their rigor. . Somehow I ended up in an elite store where only the most amazing people were special ....... . And since I had been selling to women for two years, I kind of understood what motivated women to buy. After that, I worked at Edifice for about six years, and finally became a buyer at a store called Materio, which was run by BAYCREW'S at the time.
Were things going well when you were a buyer?
Kaneko:Some of my seniors were very strict, and the first two years were hell (laughs). Even so, at that time, Edifice was mainly a two-person buying operation, and fortunately, the staff at the storefront often liked what I bought. I was a little different from other buyers and bought items that were difficult to sell, but with the support of these allies, I managed to make it work. I don't think I was much of an asset in terms of sales (laughs), but I was still in charge of buying until the end. At that time, there were many people who loved clothes, just like the staff at Reshop today, and my stories seemed to resonate with them. It was a good time. There was a time when Komori (Keijiro Komori, the current designer of "Komori") was in charge of planning, and I was constantly going to France to buy clothes. I would talk about my own French theory, and the staff at the store would find it interesting.
