From Hawaii to the world by genuine Hawaiians.
The backbone of "Salvage Public" is Hawaii, where the designers are from. We spoke with Takehito Onodera, who directs the brand with his local team, about the future outlook. The location is at the store "Slow Tempo (SLOW TEMPO)" located in Komazawa.
PROFILE
He is the owner of the Komazawa-based select store "Slow Tempo" and director of the brands "Maple" and "mellow people," which celebrated their 20th anniversary this year. He is also active in a wide range of activities, including the distribution of the Honolulu-based brand "Salvage Public" and promotion of the brand. In her private life, she is into golf.
High school classmates + brothers started the brand.
What kind of brand is "Salvage Public" and who are the three designers?
Onodera:Salvage Public was started in 2013 by Joseph Serrao, Noah Serrao, and Napali Souza. Joseph and Napali have been best friends since high school, and Noah is Joseph's older brother. They are involved behind the scenes in an advisory capacity for the brand. All three of them are from a school called Kamehameha School, which is a prestigious local school for the education of Hawaiian children, and you have to be of Hawaiian descent to enter. In other words, that's how genuine they are and how they live their lives locally.
So, Mr. Onodera, how are you involved with "Salvage Public"?
Onodera:I am friends with the three people who run the brand and am involved as a distributor at the same time. My relationship with them started when I was interested in "Salvage Public" and contacted them. At the time, several companies were approaching them, but when they saw the products and development of "Maple," which I was directing, they decided to entrust us with the project.
Photos taken during Mr. Onodera's trip to Hawaii for meetings and hangouts. Joseph and Noah went to the ocean to watch the sunset, and Joseph posed in front of the Salvage Public office in the Kaimuki area.
How do you produce your products with them?
Onodera:When working on a seasonal collection, we have a brainstorming meeting at the beginning. There, I absorb their ideas and thoughts, and I also think about what I would like to see in the collection and give them feedback. After that, Joseph and Napali send me their designs one after another, and I give shape to them.
Will you mainly offer items in seasonal collections, or will they be limited to spring and summer?
Onodera:The base collection is the SS (spring/summer) and AW (fall/winter) collections, but one of the characteristics of "Salvage Public" is that there are many spot items. Hawaii has a strong image of everlasting summer, but you can actually feel the four seasons more than we think. That's why we sometimes add items that correspond to the seasons. We also offer items that are exclusive to the Hawaii store. What we pay special attention to is creating items that can be worn comfortably in places other than Hawaii. Recently, our items have become popular in New York and L.A., so that is another point that we take into consideration.
So you have a full lineup of outerwear and sweatshirts as well!
Onodera:That's right. But it is not that they are just a fashion brand that is conscious of trends, but they are genuinely conscious of expressing the backbone of Hawaiian culture in their clothes.
The store is a vast space where Salvage Public's clothing is tastefully displayed. Sage green, a typical Hawaiian plant, and glaze, which is typical of a land with many volcanoes, are the source of inspiration for the brand and the original landscape of Hawaii itself.
