Three perspectives on the incomparable new select store UNFOLLOW. | feature

TOPIC 2. Two testimonies about FOLL.

They pursue the season's theme with earnestness and spare no pains to focus on the background of production. How does the fashion cognoscenti perceive the up-and-coming yet bottomless spirit of "Fol"? Following designer Kanta Hirasawa's guide, we will unravel the story with stylist Lambda Takahashi.

PROFILE

Kanta Hirasawa

Designer and Fashion Advisor

Born in Tokyo in 1997. She joined the BAYCREW'S group as a new graduate in 2020 and worked as a sales clerk at the select store "Unfollow", and is currently working as a designer for the original brand "FOL".
Instagram:@kanta_0509

PROFILE

Lambda Takahashi

stylist

Born in Tokyo in 1977. After working as a sales representative at "BEAMS", he experienced editing and buying vintage clothes, and studied under stylist Haruhisa Shirayama. Currently, he also designs for his own brand, "R.M GANG.
YouTube:Lambda Takahashi
Instagram:@tkhslmd

Top quality at a low price.

Designer Mr. Hirasawa picked out three new models from the 21SS lineup in advance. First, we would like to look at denim, which he says best symbolizes this season's theme.

Hirasawa:The theme for the 21SS season is "Western Military Academy," inspired by the lifestyle of the American military academies from the 1740s to the 1970s. This denim is also filled with western details.

I see that there are three colors, washed and unwashed.

Hirasawa:The washed blue jeans are a fairly accurate reproduction of the realistic color fading of vintage clothing from the 1990s. At the same time, we have tried to express a design balance that can never be found in vintage clothing. Recently, many young people want to wear denim like slacks, so we offer rigid denim except for blue jeans.

Takahashi:The construction is like leather pants?

Hirasawa:Yes, we have followed the details of the leather pants from the 1970s in great detail. The sewing of the belt loops, in particular, was a real challenge to faithfully reproduce. I wanted to make the stitch width coarse, as if there were a needle in the leather pants, but it was impossible to sew in Japan, where only thin needles are still in existence. So, I searched for a sewing factory in northern China that specialized in working wear and asked them to do it for me.

Takahashi:In the first season of "R.M GANG," I also made pants with western details. I tried to do the same thing with sewing, and come to think of it, the factory didn't like it either (laughs).

Do you use the same fabrics for all of your products?

Hirasawa:This 13.8 oz. rigid fabric is actually from a Japanese manufacturer that went out of business more than a decade ago. It is an unusual fabric in that it is uneven even though it does not use uneven yarn. We were able to find some leftovers from that time, so we were allowed to use as much as we could. So, we are selling a limited number of 10 pieces.

Takahashi:If Domebra made something like this normally, it would definitely cost 30,000-40,000. Sweatshirts over there are about the price of a T-shirt, too. ...... If they made something in this price range, I'd get tired of making my own brand (laughs).

Hirasawa:I don't want to compromise quality at all. However, there are young people who would not be able to afford this denim if it were only a few thousand yen more expensive. Therefore, I want to keep the price as low as possible by making every possible effort in the production process, and show customers of the same generation that "clothes made with care and effort are so much better". I hope that this brand will become an entry line for people to learn the joy of spending money on clothes.