I thought that as we get older, our senses become duller , but it's rather the opposite.
What criteria do you use to hire the staff of "Reshop"?
Kaneko:Like me, I'm not really attracted to people who are all things to all people. . I prefer people who are more "peaky" (pinpoint and specialized). The staff here today absolutely love Native American things, and they are the kind of people you would say, "You can trust this guy with that. Everyone specializes in something. I think that a team that is an aggregation of such various "specialties" is what "Reshop" is all about. For example, we don't know much about Europe at all, but we know more about Navajo than anyone else. That makes me feel good. I am older than them, so I have a bias toward all kinds of things, although I have been through most of what they are into. I have to know everything in order to oversee the store, but I think it is important to have people like them in the store.
. Given that, I think that Reshop's special order for "Outdoor Products" may be symbolic of Mr. Kaneko's bias.
Kaneko:That may be so. In the first place, I don't think people would think twice about releasing an American-made special order at a time when the previous Japanese-made special orders have already been selling very well, thanks to your support. It is just a feeling or a feeling, and the quality is definitely lower than that of Japanese-made products (laugh). But there were many people who agreed with me that that was what they liked about it. Actually, I knew firsthand that this was going to happen. 15 or 16 years ago, there were many people like me, and I was like a survivor. Most of the people my age had quit this kind of work, or they were still doing the same old thing, just doing the same old thing. There are no one left to do what I do, so it's easy for me to do what I do now (laughs). (Laughs) The key is to turn this into a business. As I gain more experience, I have more resources to draw from, so I can try new things from any angle. I used to think that as one gets older, one's senses become duller and it becomes more difficult to create new things and keep up with the times, but now I'm taking leaps and bounds, and more and more things I want to do keep coming up.
Have you ever lost your passion for clothes and fashion after being involved in it for so many years?
Kaneko:To be honest , there is. Before I started my current store, I worked for another company for a while and participated in a project for an overseas designer. At that time, I was in a position where I had to submit stories, and I had to make a presentation that could be understood by elementary school students in a language that was too work-like, and I had to pass it on to the higher-ups. I felt like I was an informer.
. Maybe the aspect of "fashion as a commercial product" has become stronger.
Kaneko:I guess it was. What I liked about my time at BAYCREW'S was that when I said, "I like this," everyone would say, "Oh, that's nice," and we all shared the same feeling, even if we didn't say anything. When I started my new job, I found myself constantly saying, "I have to start from the beginning to explain what I'm talking about! I did a lot of research. I had to do a lot of research, and then I had to say, "Here are some actual examples: ......". I had never done anything like that before. I had never done anything like that before (laughs). (Laughs.) At that time, my old company, BAYCREW'S, approached me. They said, "We want to create a cool store. They said, "Only you know what you're doing, so why don't you do it? If I had stayed at BAYCREW'S all my life, I don't think I would have been able to create a store like "Reshop. I think I would not have been able to create a shop like "Reshop" if I had stayed at BAYCREW'S. I went out and looked into other worlds and did various jobs, and I am sure that is why I am where I am today.
