I thought about what I wanted to wear and created a mix of ideas.
You mentioned earlier that you have an image of mass-market sales, and it is not easy to sublimate that image, is it? How did you try to overcome this problem when designing the product?
Nakatsu River:As you said, although I accepted the offer, I was worried about what I would do. But thinking about it the other way around, I think it is more difficult to tweak a brand that you like or admire too much. Then I saw the logo of this brand, and I began to think, "This is something fresh. I wanted to create something that would look fresh when the younger generation of customers who come to my store see it. I wanted to design clothes that were catchy and simple enough that people would want to wear them. At the same time, I wanted to design clothes that I myself would want to wear.
Did you have any kind of regulations when you were designing it?
Nakatsu River:There were almost no restrictions. There were some restrictions, such as the logo, but other than that, I was free to do whatever I wanted. So I was allowed to do whatever I wanted. However, I felt that it was the freedom that made it difficult. If there were restrictions, it would have been fun to go through them, but this time there were none at all, and we had to start from scratch.
Arai:When I took a look at the lineup, I thought it was simply Goro's style. The color scheme, the larger size, and so on.
Nakatsu River:In designing it, I was collecting and looking through the archives of Boon magazine from the 90s. I wondered if I would find inspiration. I thought. I found hints hidden in the advertisements on the back pages that were obviously paid for.
I remember seeing an advertisement for a parallel import store that featured product shots in the form of a catalog.
Nakatsu River:I myself was influenced by the sporty brands of the 90's, so I designed this item while taking advantage of the mood of those items and Cosby's background in ice hockey. I also simply thought about what I would like to wear now, and mixed and matched ideas as I went along.
Arai:Are these hockey sticks painted by Goro?
Nakatsu River:Yes, I did. For this one, I did nothing special and painted a picture that was uniquely me.
Arai:Are you following the design of past "Cosby" products?
Nakatsu River:That's not true. I designed everything from scratch, taking hints from various things. However, the design of this jacket was based on an item from the 90s that had a patch on the back. I didn't have any switching or anything like that.
Arai:Did you choose the anorak type jacket because of your current mood? I felt that this jacket was the most "Cosby"-like.
Nakatsu River:Many of [Cosby]'s outerwear items were like bench coats with a long length. I designed this item because I wanted something that could be worn on the street. The choice of an anorak was also somewhat inspired by my mood.
Arai:I think the red, white, and navy tricolor is a standard color scheme, but this mustard color scheme is very fresh and unique.
Nakatsu River:The colors used in sports items tend to be very similar, so I consciously tried to avoid that and ended up with this color. The truth is that we decided on the color scheme for the shorts first, and then matched the colors of the jacket so that it could be worn as a set-up (laughs).
Arai:The transition between these pants is also unique.
Nakatsu River:I did it because I wanted people who picked it up to think, "What's this?" (laughs). (laugh).
Arai:Does it make sense?
Nakatsu River:If you look at the brand logo, you see only the "b" and "y" sticking up and down. That's what we are trying to express.
Arai:Ah! I see! So that's how it was.
Nakatsu River:Was that hard to understand?
Arai:No, no, no (laughs)! Is this cut and sewn cycle jersey?
Nakatsu River:That's right. I was originally inspired by a field hockey shirt, but I couldn't just wear it on the street, so I designed it to look like a motocross shirt from the 80s. I want people to wear this one in a big way anyway.
Are all items unisex?
Nakatsu River:Yes, it is. We have female models wearing them in the look, so we would be happy if people of both genders could pick them up.
2021 SS COLLECTION
