FEATURE | TIE UP

Translated By DeepL

Ask a vintage wise man who loves caps! The beautiful relationship between forty-seven and vintage clothing.
Vintage Buyer meets '47.

Ask a vintage sage who loves caps!
The beautiful relationship between Forty-Seven and vintage clothing.

Forty-seven ('47), which has official license agreements with all four major professional sports leagues in the U.S., including MLB, the world's premier baseball league, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL, is a prestigious brand loved throughout the U.S. since its establishment in Boston in 1947, focusing on baseball caps. In addition, in recent years, the brand has also become a major player in the Japanese fashion scene. In recent years, the brand has been gaining fans in the Japanese fashion scene as well. Vintage buyer Michihiko Kurihara, a self-professed hat lover, gives his impression of the brand's most popular series, "'47 CLEAN UP". We talked with him about how to coordinate and enjoy the brand's hats with vintage clothing.

'47 CLEAN UP from left to right: ¥3,520, ¥3,850, ¥3,520, ¥3,520, ¥3,520

PROFILE

Michihiko Kurihara
Vintage Buyer

He started working in vintage stores as a teenager and later became a buyer for the famous "Lost Hills" store in Harajuku, Tokyo. 2011, he became independent and started working as a freelancer. Last year, he relocated his Yokohama store and opened "Mr. Clean" in Tomigaya in the Oku-Shibuya area of Tokyo. 180 days a year, he travels to the U.S. to make purchases, which he distributes to vintage clothing stores, select stores, and remake brands throughout Japan. He is also a regular member of HOUYHNHNM's famous "Vintage Summit" for eight years since its inception, and is a trusted advisor to many media outlets.
kurikurivintage.shop-pro.jp

The cap is an indispensable balancer.

Kurihara-san's trademark is to wear a hat. Why do you like it so much?

I started wearing hats frequently when I was a teenager. I was skateboarding at the time, so I think that was the start of it. Also, before I had the round-cropped hair that I have now, I had the monogamous reason of being able to hide my shaggy hair without having to set my hairstyle.

Also, it can be the star or supporting player in a coordinated look, and it's useful as a coordinator. The hat can match the color of the outfit, accentuate the outfit, or balance the hat to finish the styling. It may be similar to choosing a pair of shoes.

I have some hats and occasionally wear a knit cap, but mostly it is a cap with a brim. And with the exception of outdoor caps, all of them are baseball-type caps. I probably have 50 to 60 of them. To be honest, I am not that much of an avid baseball fan (laughs). But I do have a reasonable grasp of the baseball teams in each area, both professional and collegiate. I can find old clothes of local teams in each city, and I remember all the team names, colors, home bases, logos, and mascot characters because of my job.

It is interesting that you have such a large number of baseball caps, even though you are not a baseball fan.

Because I love America and wear American clothes, I guess. When it comes to American hats, baseball caps are definitely the most representative. They are the most appropriate for American casual wear, and on the other hand, they can also be used to add a bit of a touch of sophistication to a slightly more elegant outfit. They are so useful that I always end up buying both old and new ones.

I don't have a strong preference in choosing, but I like classic shallow forms. In addition, I do care about background to some extent. For the caps lined up here, I'm OK with the Dodgers because I go to LA often, but I won't wear a cap for a team I have no connection or feelings for, even if I like the design. I want to make a choice based on my connection or some other reason, even if it is trivial or cobbled together. While I don't think it's necessary to think that far, knowing information about the culture, story, and poop behind it makes the coordination more persuasive, and makes it easier to enjoy and become attached to the object.

On the other hand, I am not obsessed with details. I wear cotton, wool, and nylon as well as other materials, depending on the season and the styling I want to match them with. The cotton type is especially versatile and can be used in all seasons. Moreover, if they get dirty, they can be easily washed, which is very convenient.

The '47 CAPTAIN," shown at the far end of the photo, features a flat visor and deep shape. This model is a collaboration with Carhartt.

INFORMATION

OSM International

Address: Niwa Building, 3-22-7 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-6721-0589
Forty Seven Official Online Store

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