PROFILE
Fashion buyer. After working as a buyer at the select store "Edifice", he became independent. After working on his own, he launched "Reshop" in 2015. Currently, he is the conceptor of the store and also supervises various brands and labels.
PROFILE
After establishing a select store in Kashiwa, Chiba, he worked at "Lost Hills" in Harajuku, Tokyo, where he was in charge of planning and production of original and licensed brands. After gaining experience, he became independent and launched his own brand, "Bow Wow," in 2017.
The bau wau item was the gongmolu himself.
This collaboration was a very unexpected combination. Could you start by telling us how the two of you met?
Kaneko: Actually, we are not that deep in our relationship yet. Today is the fifth time we have met, I think. I feel like this collaboration started the moment we met (laughs). (Laughs) I would like to learn more about Mr. Gomori through this conversation. I would like to rewind time and see if that is why I can empathize with him.
Do you feel like you're trying to answer the question?
Kaneko: That's right. We met for the first time at a Bow Wow exhibition and had dinner afterward.
Rights holder: I also had the opportunity to visit a "boutique".
Did you know of the existence of Bow Wow?
Kaneko: Of course, I knew about the brand, but I did not know what kind of craftsmanship was involved. Through a mutual acquaintance, I had a chance to go to an exhibition, and when I saw the clothes, I thought they were amazing. I felt that this person really likes vintage clothing. It was a little different from other designers. He is a designer, but he is like an older brother who loves vintage clothes (laughs).
Rights holder: When I heard that Kaneko-san was coming to the exhibition, I changed the layout to his specifications. I mixed in vintage clothes and other items that I thought would appeal to Mr. Kaneko.
Kaneko: You had a lot of things on the floor.
Rights holder: I placed an item that was slightly out of place. I wanted to put items that would change the atmosphere of the room. I put items that ordinary people would not react to, such as my boots.
Kaneko: It was very confusing (laughs). (Laughs.) They were the kind of items that you wouldn't find in a regular used clothing store, the kind of items that are sold to enthusiasts.
Rights holder: I bought some because I really wanted them when I went to the Rose Bowl, or something with a slightly off-kilter sense of style. But I think they are very nice myself.
Then I met Mr. Kaneko, and after talking with him, I realized that he is an extraordinary digger. It was clear that he was digging in a completely different place from myself, but I also felt that we had something in common.
Kaneko: I think Mr. Gommori's main field was Chiba and Harajuku, but I was based in Kichijoji, and also went to Shimokita and Ueno. I was looking at vintage clothing from a rather local perspective, or rather, I was catching information from old shopkeepers. I was also looking at new clothes at the same time, so my perspective may have been a little different in that respect.
And at the exhibition, Mr. Kaneko caught something unusual.
Kaneko: I saw a glimpse of Mr. Gommori's vintage clothes and felt a different mood. The brand was amazing, but above all, I was interested in Mr. Gommori himself, the creator of the items. The items of "Bow Wow" were made by Mr. Gongmori himself. That is very important when choosing a brand. I think there are times when you think "I want to buy from this person" when you are being served at a store, and I am the same type of person.
If the product and the designer are not linked, it feels like a blur, doesn't it?
Kaneko: I think there is an aura that an object emits, and I feel that it is connected to such aura.
