PROFILE
Owner and buyer of vintage store "BerBerJin". Opened in 1998 in Harajuku, where many vintage clothing stores line the streets. Since then, he has developed BerBerJin into a leading store in the vintage clothing industry with an overwhelming lineup of items and a wealth of knowledge. His influence extends beyond Japan to the rest of the world.
I am looking forward to the current sensibilities of a generation that has a different sensibility than ours.
Why did you decide to open a new store in Harajuku at this time?
Yamada: . we opened the Shibuya Parco store in November of the year before last. It soon became a Corona disaster, and sales were not as strong as we had anticipated. But what was more of a bottleneck was the distance between Shibuya and Harajuku. The distance between the two places made it difficult for me to visit them, and I thought it would be better to close the store and open a street store in Harajuku for about the same rent, so that I could see the store from my vantage point. Also, in our case, we upload about 40 items to our web store every day, and it would be beneficial in terms of inventory sharing if we put the items that were being sold at the Shibuya Parco store on our web site.
I see. Did you originally have this location in mind?
Yamada: . We have been looking for a location for a long time. The conditions were that it had to be a street-front store. The "Shibuya Parco" store has a floor space of about 5.5 square meters, and the "&Belverzine" store has a floor space of about 5.5 square meters, so we were looking for a store that combined both of them and had a floor space of about 5.5 to 6.5 square meters. . So, the idea was to simply integrate both stores. Since the shop had previously housed a clothing store, we used part of the interior as it was, and only added racks, showcases, and other fixtures. . . However, the flooring is a bit closer to the atmosphere of the main store.
. Although there are many vacant properties in Harajuku these days, we don't hear much about closed vintage clothing stores in the Corona Disaster.
Yamada: The used clothing industry itself is doing well, I think, everywhere. Secondhand clothing seems to be booming among the younger generation. However, I don't know if they can afford to buy at our store (Berber Gin's main store), as the prices are not too bad. However, if one or two out of every 10 people who buy secondhand clothes become interested in vintage clothing, the secondhand clothing industry will expand, and I hope that this will happen gradually.
Mr. Yamada, who goes to the U.S. every month to buy, do you see a similar situation in the vintage clothing scene there?
Yamada: . The range of choices is much wider than in the past, isn't it? Vintage clothing is ridiculously popular there, too, and the young kids are just amazing. There are a lot of kids in their teens and twenties at the Rose Bowl flea market, and many vintage clothing dealers are in their twenties or younger. . This also affects the local buying price.
. What kind of items are they looking for?
Yamada: . everything. The market price of denim is a little bit crazy, but band T-shirts are also more expensive than in Japan, and T-shirts in general seem to be 10 times more expensive than they were 10 years ago. The number of T-shirts in general seems to have increased 10-fold compared to 10 years ago. Of course, the price has gone up considerably.
Kanye West and other musicians such as rappers are wearing them, and that's one of the reasons why they are so popular among the younger generation.
Yamada: That's really it. There are many different types of people, so even among the younger generation, there are those who dress in so-called "true vintage" clothing and look like old-style "Shibukaje" cosplayers, while there are others who are the complete opposite. It seems that everyone has their own way of dressing and enjoying themselves.
I think many people recognize "Berberzine" as a leading store in the Japanese vintage clothing industry, but do you have a sense of wanting to promote Harajuku and vintage clothing?
Yamada: I myself don't have that kind of mindset. . I am not proud of being a leading store, and in fact, I don't think we should have that kind of awareness. I think it is something that the younger generation should have, rather than us.
Q. So how do you think the vintage clothing scene will change in the future? For example, how do you think values will change?
Yamada: I don't think about that either. My own idea of what is good is very narrow in scope, and it is difficult to deliver it to the customers. That is why I am looking forward to the current sensibilities of people like Kosuke, who has a different sensibility from our generation, as the manager of "Berber Gin YUUHODO". On top of that, I hope he enjoys his work (laughs). Naturally, I expect sales, but I also hope that Kosuke will continue to work with us because he is happy to do so. That is the most important thing.
Kosuke: You have high expectations for Kosuke, don't you?
Yamada: I have taken more than 10 buyers to the U.S., and their buying and communication skills are outstanding. He is like (Fujihara Yutaka) when he was young, and he went to the U.S. for buying all the time when he was around 20 years old. My friends over there, who have known him since those days, say that he is just like Yutaka.
This is a great expectation for the birth of a new store with a different vector from the main store! Next, we will talk to the manager, Mr. Kosuke.
