HOUYHNHNM

Please start by telling us about your relationship.

tail. When I joined "EDIFITH", Mr. Kaneko was a buyer for "EDIFITH". The reason why I wanted to join "EDIFITH" in the first place was because I saw "EDIFITH" in Shibuya when I visited Tokyo and thought it was really cool and crazy in a good way. Mr. Kaneko was the buyer at that store. He was the one who was buying for the store, and he was like, "Match this with this! I thought, "This store is really cool.

. Until then, you lived in London for a while, didn't you?

tail. Yes. When I came back to Japan from London, I was going to work in a clothing store, but at that time, I was already thinking that I definitely wanted to work at "Edifice". Incidentally, the original "edifice" at that time was made by Mr. Komori (COMOLI designer Keijiro Komori), and it was an amazing store in many ways. However, my hometown is Nagoya, and there was no "EDIFITH" in Nagoya at that time.

Yes.

tail. So I was working part-time at another store, but one day I heard that "Edifice" was going to open in Nagoya. I quit the store I was working at the day I found out about it. I wanted to be a part of it that badly.

Do you remember when you met Mr. Kaneko after you joined Edifice?

tail.: Yes, I did. . I wanted to be a buyer in the first place. When I was in London, I was fascinated by the job of a buyer. . So I knew about Mr. Kaneko, the buyer of "EDIFICE. Then one day, Mr. Kaneko was going to come to "Edifice" in Nagoya. When I heard that, I was quite excited.

money. but Ozaki was not at the store that day, was he?

tail. Yes, I was off that day. But I caught word that Mr. Kaneko was going to Ajisen that day (laughs).

money. those spicy ramen noodles.

tail. Yes. So I was called by the manager of the Nagoya store and went to Ajisen, and there was Mr. Kaneko there (laughs). (Laughs.) Our initial setup was me admiring Kaneko-san, the buyer, and Kaneko-san, the buyer.

Do you remember that time, Mr. Kaneko?

money. Yes, I did. Looking back on it now, I think he was looking at me in a kind of strange way (laughs). (Laughs.) Listening to Ozaki now, I wonder if that was what he meant when he looked at me that time. I didn't have a lot of conversation with him at the time, but I thought he seemed like an interesting kid. The company had been looking for a new buyer since I joined a few years ago, and there was no one under me at all. However, I did not know that you wanted to be a buyer.

tail: I was not in a position to hope for it, so I did not officially hope for it. Of course, in my heart, I was hoping for it.

So you feel like you hooked up?

money. After that, I went back to Tokyo and talked with the director, and I think that was a good stepping stone.

tail. Later, I asked him, "What kind of a guy is Ozaki? (Laughs.) I later asked them, "What kind of a guy is Ozaki? . One day in the winter, I received a call from the manager. One day in winter, I received a phone call from the manager. I was in Tokyo at the time. And I was at "JS Burger".

Coincidentally (laughs).

tailYes (laughs). And he said, "Ozaki, do you want to go to Tokyo? I remember he said to me in Kansai dialect, "Ozaki, do you want to go to Tokyo? At that point, it had been less than six months since I joined the company; I joined in September and it was January at the time.

You're early!

tail: Yes, that's right. . However, when I was offered the job, I turned it down, saying that it was too early for me.

Why is that again?

tail. I had just bought a new car at that time (laughs). (Laughs) . I still had the loan, and I couldn't take the car with me to Tokyo. . And, as a serious reason, I thought I should go there after I had gained proper sales experience. When I turned down the offer, the manager got really mad at me (laughs). He said, "If you miss out now, there's no way you'll get another offer next time. I thought to myself, "Oh, no." But I accepted the offer.

. So, you have decided to work with Mr. Kaneko.

tail. But at first, I was a distributor, which is a job that distributes incoming merchandise to the stores. The director told me that he would make me a buyer after six months, so I should do distributor for now and learn the buyer's process.

I see.

tail. I got my letter of resignation in March, came to Tokyo in April, and in June there was the Pitti, and I was supposed to go on a business trip to the Pitti. I will never forget it , June 25. That Pitti was the first business trip I took with Mr. Kaneko.

money. it was.

When did that happen?

tail. 15 years ago, I was 21 years old.

money. 21 years old, that's young .

tail. The company was not as big then as it is now, but I think it was still a record for a 21-year-old to become a buyer in a select store. It would never happen today. It was possible because it was then.

I guess that's true.

tail: So, basically, I started out as a senior whom I admired. Furthermore, at Pitti, he became a mentor in my mind without my permission. I said, "You are going to teach me how to buy, aren't you?

money: No, but in fact, there was more to be taught.

tail: Yes, they didn't tell me much (laughs).

Is that like stealing?

money. yes. The way the company did things was not like teaching. It was like that from the first buyers. Even when I accompanied them, they didn't teach me anything.

tail. I was really surprised. But I thought it was that kind of world.

money. . even though I don't know how to fill out an order sheet, I'm like, "Just order it anyway.

tailI remember the first time I was asked to pick up "WIMNEELS. I thought, "No, I can't." (laughs).

money. understandable. I miss it . I'm not trying to emulate that, but I still feel that way. Even my kids have told me recently, "Dad, you're the kind of guy who shows his back" (laughs). He says, "You're the kind of guy who shows your back.

tailI agree with you, as a "Kaneko child" myself.

money. At the time, we had a team of three buyers, plus the boss, and the other senior buyer was more of a sensory person than a theoretical person. . Therefore, Ozaki was the only one who had a firm grasp of the situation. He was the only one who had a solid grasp of calculations such as delivery dates and budget control.

tail. it was really tough. I spent time with such free people, and I was like a caretaker man.

How long did you work with that team?

tail. about two whole years. After that, I was transferred.

What was the reason for the transfer?

tail: There's a lot going on, but the buying process is a little bit out of sync with the way we do things.

money. As I mentioned earlier, there were many aspects of the project that were done by feel, and I don't think they fit Ozaki's character.

tail: Yes, that's right. At the time, it was like, "We should be more serious.

money. it was like a class president, you know, younger.

tail. The other reason is that the direction of "Edifice" as a whole was changing, and I didn't fit in with it. These two things came at exactly the same time.

money. I think there are quite a few people who remember me when they see this cap.

tail(Laughs.) It's the one I wanted! (Laughs) It's the one I've been wanting to get.

money. it's very memorable, but it's a failure. It didn't sell at all (laughs). It was completely made to fit my head and my face .

tail. (laughs). Are you saying that this shape is not funny?

money. I made it from two materials: corduroy and wool. . Actually, it was made by [CA4LA]. After several revisions, I was able to create the perfect shape, but it doesn't fit on a person's head at all (laughs).

tail. this bald-headed hat .

money: Yes, yes, yes.

moneyThis is a collaboration between "Edifice" and "Champion," created by Ozaki, about 12 to 3 years ago .

tail: I've missed this, you know!

moneyI think I had an idea of where you were going to be when you started this project. I think he was more like a creator than a buyer. I definitely had a glimpse of that from that time. I think he was only 22 or 23 years old. And when I saw him again after a while, I found that he was doing something like "Phil Melange. . I guess you could say that this item is his very first work.

tail. it's Roots. I was so absorbed in this project that I wondered if it was OK that I wasn't doing any other work at all. I was so absorbed in it that I wondered if it was OK that I wasn't doing any other work at all.

moneyI can't make this kind of thing. I think that people who can make things like this, even when they are buying, don't buy things because they think, "I can make this," or "I can make this. In my case, I am attracted to things that look a little strange or distorted. Something with charm. So, although I was a buyer at the same time as Ozaki, I think our thoughts and ideas were completely different.

tailYes, I think so.

money. I didn't expect you to still be a buyer at the age of 40. Mr. Ozaki is a buyer, but he is also a creator. I think that was already decided at that time.

tail. but how did you manage to keep it?

money. I wear it often. It lasts a long time.

money. this is a St. James I bought when I was 17 years old. It was a little big, but I forced myself to buy it and wore it all the time. I loved American casual clothes and often bought second-hand clothes, but I think this was my first European item.

-Where did you buy it?

moneyIt was a store in Kichijoji. That was the store that stocked "Eccasion Personnel," which was a wholesaler among the EDIFITH originals. Three or four years after I bought this "St. James" brand, I went to an interview at "Edifice. Until then, I had never been interested in European items, but this was the trigger that set me on a European path. In that sense, this item holds a lot of memories for me.

money: This was before Ozaki joined "Edifice", but let's change "Edifice"! Let's do something that has never been done before! There was a time when we were trying to do something that had never been done before. . Maybe Ozaki saw the store during that period and thought it was cool.

-I see.

money. I started playing around that time, too. This is from "Jessica Ogden. This is a brand that basically only does women's wear, but I asked them to make men's wear for me. At the time, men's brands were boring, and many women's brands were better looking. So, I decided to have such people make men's wear for me. This was one of those items. At that time, there were other brands such as "FRANK LEDER. I don't think they were in Japan yet. And for some reason, there was also Vivienne Westwood.

tailYes, yes, yes. Jessica Ogden, Frank Reeder, Vivienne Westwood, and Manolo Blahnik. What a store!