PROFILE
Born in Tokyo in 1973. Creative director of brands and shops including L'ECHOPPE, BOUTIQUE, and J.B. ATTIRE.
In February 2024, he launched his first fashion brand "FOUNDOUR.
Instagram:@keijikaneko
Clothes that can be "taken off" as you would expect from vintage clothing.
First of all, please tell us what kind of brand "Founda" is.
Kaneko: Once upon a time, I made a hand-sewn shirt for myself using a high-end fabric. The pattern was based on a B.D. shirt from a long-established American brand, but when I saw the finished product, I thought that the fabric did not have to be high-end. So I tried again to make a shirt in the same way, using a universal broadcloth fabric.
Before,This articleBut it's the shirt you talked about.
Kaneko: When I compared the finished shirts, I found that there was not much difference between the high quality fabric and the ordinary fabric. Of course the feel is different, but from my point of view of what I consider "good clothes," both are good. In fact, the less expensive regular fabrics are naturally cheaper, and are just right for everyday wear. In a way, I thought that the unorthodox style of production was a nice change of pace.
If you have good patterns and tailoring, you can make good clothes, right? Did this experience lead you to founders?
Kaneko: That's right. I myself am not a designer and cannot create something from scratch. However, I am confident in what I have cultivated as a buyer, such as combining A and B to create something new, and it is my area of expertise. So I thought I could apply the idea of the shirt I made before to other items.
Kaneko: I had started the project a little over a year ago, but I wanted to start something on my own anyway, and the team for that project was formed right around that time.
I'm sure it is possible to make good clothes with good fabrics even if the price is a little higher, but have you changed your mindset compared to before?
Kaneko: I have always loved vintage clothing, but the reason for this is because I want to incorporate it into my outfits as a detractor. I have always wanted to take good clothes and offset them with secondhand clothes, and when secondhand clothes are the star of the show, I want to take them out of the show by matching them with good clothes. I like to give meaning to styling in this way.
But secondhand clothing is one-of-a-kind and an encounter. Of course, that is part of its charm, but I was hoping to find clothes that could be "off" in the way that I look for "off" in secondhand clothing, as if they were new. That's when I came up with that shirt, and I thought, "That's good. The fabric is ordinary, but the hand-stitched quality is very high. I thought that if I matched it with a cashmere knit, it would create a sense of detachment.
Founders do not dare to make high-end products for the sake of "off-the-charts" quality. That's what makes "Founder's" so special.
Kaneko: The collaborations I have been involved in up to now have been based on the premise that there is a brand or designer with whom I am collaborating and their way of making things. I have added my ideas to them and made clothes, but if I were to do it on my own, I would have to make clothes that match those ideas.
