Why Wimsey and Komeda have joined forces. | feature

At the root is respect.

. There is a chain coffee shop, but if you think about it, it is important to keep people coming back.

I think there are some things we need to imitate in the field of clothing, which is a different field. When I thought about it, it seemed like a very meaningful initiative, so I decided to create a product that would be fun to use when you actually go to a Komeda Coffee store. The chairs in Komeda stores are red sofas, and I bought the actual fabric used for the sofas and made shorts out of it.

That's bad (laughs).

The look was filmed inside the "Coffee Shop Komeda Coffee Shop."

I heard that the visuals were shot at an actual Komeda Coffee store.

Yes, that's right. The young people working in the fashion industry in Tokyo have recreated the original scene of the "Komeda Coffee Shop," which I mentioned earlier, as a meeting place and a place of relaxation for people in the same industry, as told to me by the craftsmen in the Mino region. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the "Coffee Shop Komeda Coffee Shop Yokohama Eda" for providing us with their store.

Sota, you like pure coffee shops, don't you? Komeda is also good, and the food is delicious.

. it's nice, isn't it? . this is a bit of a theoretical one. If it is "In-N-Out Burger" or "McDonald's," it should be US-like! I think this is a big issue for me as a brand owner in Japan. This may sound a bit arrogant, but I think it would be great if we could enjoy communicating the "Komeda" philosophy itself and present it to people. That's what I'm thinking.

....

For example, when Supreme collaborated with White Castle (a fast food chain in the U.S.), they made sure to tell the world about White Castle, right? In the same way, I believe that if we do this properly, anyone who sees our work will think it is cool.

We're not trying to express ourselves again.

Yes, that is the underlying theme.

Do you have any particular points in mind when designing the items?

I tried as much as possible to create something that would not be born only in "Komeda," and I was careful not to design something that would be good if it fell into a thrift store 10 years from now. I tried not to do anything technically special.

Do you feel different from when you make your usual items?

Yes, that's right. Usually, I make a frame first and then play with the frame itself, but for this one, I dared to do it within the frame.

I was wondering how much you can do within the framework of the project.

We have created a collection that conveys our respect for the corporate philosophy of "Komeda" without losing respect. Komeda has already trademarked the graphics for the items in this collection, and now that they have done so, they can't say they are fake (laughs). Now that this has happened, they can't say they are fakes either (laughs).

Indeed (laughs). After working on this project, Sota, do you have any ideas for the future?

. It is about the same level that I originally wanted to convey through my brand, but for the first time I have been able to do so. I feel that for the first time, I have been able to create a project that focuses on the design itself, which is all around us, and that when we learn about the process, we can see the depth of the design. Regardless of the size of the project, I feel that we need to continue to work on it so that the message will be conveyed properly. I think we have shown through this collaboration that we did not come here simply to make things interesting, and if we can do it again, I would like to do something that will bring people to their restaurants. We would like to reach out to the customers of "Komeda," and we would like our own customers to go to "Komeda" and discover the quality of a relaxing pure coffee shop.