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
Born in Tokyo in 1965, , opened the select bookstore "COW" in Nakameguro in 2002. After serving as editor-in-chief of "Kurashi no Techo" for 9 years from 2006, he joined Cookpad Inc. in the spring of 2015 . . In the same year, he launched the web media "Kurashi no Kihon" and in 2017 became co-CEO of Oishii Kenko Co. In addition, he was the editor-in-chief of "DEAN & DELUCA MAGAZINE" as editor-in-chief. He has published many books, including "Today, too Teinei" (PHP Bunko) and "Shigoto no Kihon Kurashi no Kihon 100" (Magazine House) as his representative works.
"How could we do that?" . It's like a research project.
Both of you are wearing white polo shirts today.
Kaneko: We are kindred spirits (laughs).
Matsuura: I was torn between wearing a T-shirt or a polo shirt, but in the end I decided to wear a polo shirt. I ended up wearing a polo shirt and chinos, with "Topsider" on my feet. I always dress like this in the summer.
Kaneko: So it's Yataro's early summer style.
Matsuura: For some reason, I feel like wearing canvas sneakers in the summer. I used to go to a store called "Mademoiselle Non Non Non" in Harajuku in the mid-1980s. When I went there, I would see a cool adult with dark, tanned skin and shorts, and when I looked at his feet, I saw that he was wearing "skid grip" shoes. I remember one of the staff members, who was a good friend of mine, told me that he was Taro Aramaki, the owner of this store. He later started Papas.
Kaneko: Heh!
Matsuura: They looked really cool. Seeing that, I decided that I wanted to wear canvas sneakers, too.
Kaneko: That was almost 40 years ago. A time when only cool things were sold as a matter of course.
Matsuura: It was a time when you could buy vintage denim as we know it today. I liked "Mademoiselle Non Non" because it had a somewhat French taste. The fashion of the staff was outstandingly cute, and I admired them a lot. I also started wearing canvas sneakers. They became my summer staple.
Mr. Kaneko said, "When Yataro-san wears a Patagonia fleece, it feels like autumn," didn't you?
Kaneko: Yes, I see Yataro's clothes and feel the change of seasons (laughs).
Matsuura: I have clothes that I wear according to the season. I wear this in the summer, this in the fall, and this in the winter. It's really just one pattern (laughs).
. After our last conversation, the two of you continued to interact with each other as usual, didn't you?
Kaneko: Yataro participated in the Photo T project for Goth, which I curated.
Matsuura: You have done talk shows in Kyoto, Hiroshima , and Fukuoka .
Kaneko: . While doing so, I also wanted to proceed with this shirt. We were making this shirt at a very slow pace, exchanging ideas and opinions.
Matsuura: The shirt I made this time is also one that I really like and have used for many years, and I would be happy if Kaneko-san could include it as one of his manufacturing options. It all started with such a suggestion from me.
You mentioned that you found a dead stock pair of "U.S. Air Force" shoes at a vintage clothing store in Chinatown, New York. You mentioned that it was a dead stock of "U.S. Air Force" that you found at a vintage clothing store in Chinatown, New York. . You said that the oxford fabric was very good, and that you could still wear it even though it had been decades since you bought it. The plastic buttons, boxy silhouette, white stitching, etc., all give it a "Made in USA" appearance. The plastic buttons, box silhouette, white stitching, and other "made in the USA" features also attracted him to the garments. He also mentioned that Francis Ford Coppola wore a shirt similar to this one.
Matsuura: I feel that Kaneko-san and I have some similarities. As a fashion buyer, Kaneko-san finds all kinds of clothes, and I introduce books and other interesting things to the world. Both of us find something, input it, and output it in our own fields, so even though our work is different, what we do is similar. So I feel like we are kindred spirits, or rather, we understand each other.
Matsuura: As for this shirt, we had talked about it in our last meeting, and Kaneko-san shared the story and immediately understood why I liked it so much. And so, we decided to make this shirt.
Kaneko: After that interview, I took the shirt in my possession, and when I put the sleeves on it, I found that the size balance was excellent. For example, a polo collar shirt by Brooks Brothers is a polo collar, but I think it is made in the context of a dress shirt. But this one is a uniform. Also, there are some work-like details, which are perfect for everyday wear.
Matsuura: However, we did not want to get involved in this as a business venture. So we were not in a hurry to get started, and we were just going along with it as if it would be nice to do it someday, and before we knew it, it was done (laughs).
Kaneko: Yes, it's true that we didn't start working on it immediately after the dialogue a year ago.
Matsuura: Some time later, we heard the good news that the fabric could be made. Naturally, we loved the feel of traditional brand oxfords, but this shirt was different. So, instead of looking for a similar fabric, when we heard that we could make it from scratch, we became more committed.
Kaneko: I felt that if we did not use this fabric, it would be meaningless, and that even if we only reproduced the pattern, we would not be able to express well the flavor that Yataro felt.
Matsuura: The original was made in the 50's, and here we have the "U.S. AIR FORCE" shirt introduced in our last interview. FORCE" shirt introduced in the previous interview, and a shirt by "Van Heusen" with the exact same design. This is a high-end shirt manufacturer from the 1950s, and I later found out that the fabric was made by this brand. The comfortable feel and softness of cotton is the most attractive feature of this shirt, isn't it? Both Kaneko-san and I fell in love with the nuances of oxfords from this era.
. When I actually touch it, I feel that it is somewhat moist and soft, and I also feel a sense of draping or thickening.
Matsuura: There's a bit of a martial quality to it.
Kaneko: Yes, I feel that too. It is not woven in a meticulous manner.
Matsuura: And then there is the sewing. As is the case with this shirt, the puckering that is created by repeated washing is something that we, as vintage clothing and denim lovers, can't get enough of. There are many details like that. So, rather than trying to reproduce them, we would rather ask ourselves, "How can we do this? We talked about it in a way that was a bit like research.
Kaneko: However, since Yataro was an essayist and I was a buyer, we needed a designer when it came to the actual creation of the product. Then, Mr. Gongmori of "Bow Wow" came to mind. I asked him about it, and he said, "I can make the fabric.
. You used to work with Mr. Kaneko on manufacturing, didn't you? . We also followed that story in "The Clothing Handbook.
Kaneko: Yes, that's right. Mr. Gonmori is a vintage clothing enthusiast, or rather, he loves clothes, and his enthusiasm is extraordinary. In order to make what he wants to make, he works hard, sweats it out, and talks with fabric makers and factories to make things that he is satisfied with. They are very passionate about what they do. Rather than trying to reproduce the exact same item, Yataro and I wanted to create something that would be a mutual exploration of what we both liked about it and what we felt about it, so we thought that Gonmori was the right person for the job.
Matsuura: Just as Kaneko-san and I resonated with each other and understood each other without having to explain in detail in words, the designer understood us without having to say much.
