The individuality of each.
By the way, to hold a flea market, you need items to sell. Do you sometimes go buying together to buy items?
Westfield:I went to Paris and in Japan. Then there are times when I simply go to buy what I want.
Kaneko:When I started doing "weekends," I realized that if I only had personal items, they would run out quickly, so I had to go out and buy them to get stuff. So it is a style of buying where we go out to buy personal items. We go buy what we want to wear. We want to buy in the style of selling personal secondhand clothes.
Westfield:At that time, Mr. Kaneko said, "You are not a buyer, you are a shopper. When we go to the countryside, we spend more money on purchases there than we do on sales at flea markets (laughs).
Do you have any particular trends or characteristics that you buy from each of them?
Kaneko:It has a rather distinct personality.
Westfield:In my case, it's junkie or pop. My clothes are basically American, but I also use logos, teams, fluorescent colors, and other flashy things.
Kaneko:I wear authentic clothes with a little bit of vintage in them. I like vintage.
Oshima:I choose by things, I choose by coordination....
Kaneko:There's cashmere knitwear everywhere and so on.
Westfield:Mr. Oshima sometimes chooses this place because of its amazing manufacturing. You are a designer, so you have a manufacturing perspective, don't you?
Kaneko:Since they are all different, I think it is good that the viewer can choose one that is easy to understand.
Conversely, what do they have in common?
Westfield:I think the American uncle thing is common. I think they each develop from there....
Oshima:But, Mr. Kaneko, you never thought of your style as an uncle's style, did you?
Kaneko:There is no such thing.
Westfield:I think Mr. Kaneko basically chooses basic items and creates his style by the way he matches them and their sizes. That is what makes him look like an American uncle. I don't think it would look the same if a young man did the same thing.
How do you proceed when creating an original item? Do you all brush up together?
Kaneko:That was my intention, but Mr. Nishino is always away, perhaps because he is busy when deciding on a project (laughs). (Laughs.) Mr. Oshima just loves to create, and when he thinks something is good, his hands are already working on it. Ideas are bounced back and forth between Mr. Oshima and myself, so we are the only two people working on the project.
Westfield:I'm not here (laughs).
How do you separate your business from your main business?
Westfield:There is no sense of work or compulsion.
Kaneko:It's like the three of us are friends, and it's simply fun to go on expeditions. We go to the countryside, and Oshima-san drinks from noon, and we even spend three hours in the same vintage clothing store (laughs).
Westfield:It's fun, like a short trip. It is also interesting to go to local vintage clothing stores.
Do you think there is something special about local vintage clothing stores?
Westfield:Depending on the location, some used clothing stores can even beat those in Tokyo. Personally, due to the fact that I have a small child, I no longer visit vintage clothing stores in Tokyo, such as Machida, by myself these days.
I think the three of us going on expeditions together may be a good way to relax. Friends with a hobby.
Westfield:As the story goes, I was having a drink with Oshima-san and another person yesterday, and while we were talking about various things, I decided to start an Instagram live to pass this around. At the end of it, someone watching asked me, "What's so great about you, Kaneko-san?" I was asked. He gave a variety of serious answers, but in the end, I think Kaneko-san thinks about clothes 24 hours a day. At 47 years of age, I think he is a clothing idiot or a clothing lover... That is how much I think he has no boundary between his hobbies and his work.
