Anita, learn about the brand .
The setting for this year's event is Nanamika Mountain, which opened in Daikan-⼭ in March 2022. The two-floor store, themed "a mountain house in the city," has a glass-walled design that allows natural light to stream in.
PROFILE
Born in 1968, Tokyo, Japan. Representative of AG Co. For many years he worked for an advertising agency, where he was involved in the production of magazine pages and advertisements for fashion brands and media. After that, he became independent and launched his own YouTube channel "Anitube" in 2018, which is dedicated to fashion and food, and has become very popular. These days, he wakes up at 4 in the morning. His favorite ramen is Ube Ramen, which has its roots in Yamagata Prefecture.
Instagram : @ eijikatano
YouTube
-Hello, Anita, thank you very much for your time today.
It's nice to meet you, too. This is a bit sudden, but what kind of relationship does "The North Face Purple Label" have with "Nanamika"?
The North Face Purple Label is a label produced by NANAMICA. The North Face Purple Label" is a label produced by "NANAMICA", so the logo of "The North Face Purple Label" also has the "NANAMICA" name in it.
Is that what you meant?
The North Face Purple Label was born in 2003, so this year marks its 20th anniversary.
. is that such a long time ago? By the way, the inside of the store is very comfortable. There is a lot of natural light coming in.
-. It is made in the image of a house.
Well, it has a groove. It's like a sauna cabin in ⼋gatake.
The interior of the restaurant is wood-based, creating a space where one can feel a sense of nature even in the city.
Do you own The North Face Purple Label?
I don't have that one. I have a lot of the original brown tag (a product made in the 70's and 80's), though. By the way, your company was founded in 2003, and you have been combining fashion and outdoor activities like this since then, right?
Yes, that's right.
That's amazing. It was at that time that we envisioned that outdoor wear could be used as street wear. For example, fleece is originally worn as insulation, so the sizing has to be perfect. But we thought that it would be fine if they were loose-fitting, and we evolved them so that they could be worn on the street. This idea is now a global standard, but it did not exist in Japan at that time.
I have the image that you like authentic or vintage clothes, but do you ever try something new?
I love vintage music, but I don't think it's a good idea to become obsessed with it. It would be like listening only to the Beatles and the Stones for the rest of my life. You have to listen to new things, like Vaundy, for example (laughs).
Is the way these tags are placed also typical of "The North Face Purple Label"?
That's right. Low and quiet.
The original logo is a big one, which is fine, but this one is very human-like. The purple logo is also nice, but why purple?
In Japan, purple is considered a color of high prestige. The color purple was chosen not only for the field, but also to challenge the urban outdoors, which was still unfamiliar at the time, and to be one rank above the rest.
I see . It is really great that you are so flexible to challenge new things, since the ideas about fashion have been hardened for a generation. It is great that you are so flexible to try new things. I have a lot of respect for that.
