The style of Flagstaff is to always make things in the present.
Let me ask you about the brand itself. This season marks the tenth catalog that you have produced each season.
The one thing that has remained unchanged since the first project is our stance of using almost no professional models. Ryota (Yamada), the stylist, the photographer, and I flew to the location, drove around town, and hunted for people we unanimously thought were "cool! We would drive around town, hunt down people we thought were unanimously "cool," and have them change clothes on the spot for the photo shoot.
The quality is getting better and better, and some say it is now on the level of a photo book.
In fact, since this is the 10th commemorative issue, the binding is more firmly based on the image of a photo book than ever before.
You have been involved in the official T-shirts for FUJI ROCK, and have received calls for collaboration from various companies and brands, such as Peko-chan from Fujiya and Albirex Niigata, etc. You are flying by the seat of your pants.
My sense of myself has not changed in any particular way. Thankfully, I have been approached from various fields and have been involved in many collaborations, but I am not conscious that I am doing anything special. However, as I have gotten to know more and more people through the process of making things, I feel that I am getting more and more new input. Rather than outputting what I had originally accumulated within myself, I update what I have recently learned and become interested in. My style of making things is always a work in progress.
Do you often start collaborating with a client after receiving an offer from them?
In the case of NAMBA69, I was approached from that side, but in the case of anime and manga content such as "Dragon Ball" and "Denei Shoujo", I was the one who approached them.
Many fans are looking forward to seeing what kind of material you will come up with next.
We have a lot in store for this season as well. As far as I can tell at this point, we have "Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045" x "au 5G" futuristic entertainment "UNLIMITED REALITY" as a novelty, "Shin Evangelion Theater Edition" and more.
I think "Flagstaff" is very good at using material in any case. I think we can say without a doubt that "Flagstaff" started the trend of anime motifs with a street-style approach.
It was certainly earlier than others, but when we asked ourselves, "How should a Japanese brand communicate to the rest of the world?" The idea of collaborating with anime and manga, which are world-renowned cultures, was a natural conclusion. Of course, we were confident that our graphics could be incorporated into fashion, and as a result, I think we were able to contribute a little to the global dissemination of Japanese culture.
I get the impression that you are very good at sniffing out trends and quickly responding to them, not only with anime motifs, but also with sleeve prints and Kanji graphics.
As the concept of "Flagstaff" states, we are not bound by anything, but with a borderless sense, we find things that no one has noticed their value yet, dig into them, and find new value in them. . This stance may be because I come from a vintage clothing store background. When I think about it, I should also be thankful for the days when I was young and was disciplined by the strict senior staff in Harajuku (laughs).
This year marks the 6th anniversary of the brand and the long-awaited opening of the flagship store. Lastly, please tell us about your future plans.
Right now, we have only 15 overseas dealers, and they are mainly in Europe. We are still not well known in the U.S. and Asian countries, and we would like to focus our efforts there in the future.
