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YUTAKA GOTO'S INTERVIEW
First of all, congratulations on the 10th anniversary of your brand. Looking back, what kind of 10 years has it been?
Koto.It has been a decade that has flown by so quickly, and if I had to describe it in a sensory sense, I would say that it has been a ten year period of running through the business in a frantic manner. What I can remember is that for the first two to three years after starting the brand, we struggled with various issues such as money, recognition, and stability of the production environment. It was a real struggle. At the time, there was a conscious effort to promote the brand in order to sell clothes, but we stubbornly maintained the stance that no matter how successful the promotions were, the quality of the clothes had to be high.
With this in mind, did you set up your own factory soon after launching the brand?
Koto.Yes, we do. In the midst of such a trend, I thought that the first step in developing a brand that focuses on making clothes was to create such an environment. There are few young brands like ours that have their own factories, and that is why we wanted to make the first 10 years of our brand a decade in which we could seriously focus on making clothes.
Ten years of earnest efforts to make clothes. What kind of outlook do you have for the "next 10 years" that the brand will face in the future?
Koto.Over the past 10 years, I think the awareness of what kind of brand Remi Relief is has spread considerably. That is why I would like to focus on promotion for the next 10 years, something I have not been willing to do until now.
I see. So the special look commemorating this anniversary is an introduction to the "next 10 years.
Koto.That's right. I like and am good at making clothes, but I was never good at styling and presenting them. That's why I always trust my stylists 100% and entrust them with everything when I ask them to work on a catalog or a look. This year, as the brand celebrates its 10th anniversary, we thought it would be great if we could create something involving the people who have been involved with us and the people we are interested in, and this special look became a reality. I was also genuinely interested in what would happen if stylists with different personalities styled the same season's items around the same theme.
It seems that new ideas and inspirations can be born from there, doesn't it? What I didn't expect was that Remi Relief does not have a theme or subject for its catalogs, but rather allows the stylists in charge of the catalogs to create the styling as they see fit.
Koto.Otherwise, it would have been better if I had done it myself. If the styling has a rigid theme or restriction, there is no need to ask the stylist to do it. People have different values, and I want to know the differences in their expressions. That is obvious when you look at the user's point of view. Young people wear the clothes I make with completely different images and coordination. I think that is fine.
I felt like I caught a glimpse of the depth of Goto-san's nostalgia.
Koto. Of course, it is a matter of trust, but I also feel that there is no point in asking a designer to do a job unless there is a synergistic effect as a result. Mr. Araki has been with us for a long time, and I feel that his surf and American casual style showed the essence of Remi Relief the most, while Mr. Inotsuka found new possibilities for the brand by dressing the younger generation of models. It was also interesting to see Katagai-san's view of the world from a backward angle, reminiscent of Asia, and Arata-san's way of presenting the world as a one-on-one battle between a strong actor and a strong picture. Above all, Mr. Hattori, who was working with us for the first time this time, made me fall to my knees with his astonishing idea of using all the molds of the season. I am pleased to say that the special look this time was a great success, as each of them really showed off their individual qualities and personalities.
It seems that we will see more and more of such new initiatives and contents in the future.
Koto.Yes, I do. That is what I would like to do. I would like to experiment more and more, for example, making animations or building a website full of contents, without focusing too much on clothing as a product. I would like to create a medium or media that can be used by apparel brands to communicate their products. It is still within the scope of my imagination, and I am not sure what I will do in the future. Even so, nothing will change if we do the same thing we have been doing for the past 10 years.
Do you have any plans to develop directly managed stores?
Koto.I recently visited New York and saw a variety of stores. Selling products in a store itself is changing little by little. There are many stores that are already doing this, but the store is a concept store that conveys a world view. The actual sales are all done online. This type of store is becoming more and more common. It is a smarter way to shop. So I would like to see a concept store rather than a store. A place like George Tokoro's Setagaya Base would be the most ideal (laughs).
All of these images are exciting for the "next 10 years. Once again, I look forward to the next 10 years.
Koto.Please pay attention to the various contents as well as the clothes that Remi Relief will bring you in the future.
REMI RELIEF 10th Anniversary Special Site
www.remirelief.jp/remi10th/#!/home
