We want to make the best coats. The world's most wonderful project "OLD NEW ENGLAND" was born from such a desire, and was launched at the famous Aoyama store "OLD NEW ENGLAND" in Aoyama, Japan.L'ECHOPPEThe event is being held at the
The story of this project begins when Keiji Kaneko, a conceptor of "Reshop," encountered a coat on a business trip to Paris in early 2017 .
Mr. Kaneko is holding the coat in his hand. Please forgive the blurriness.
It was a stainless-steel collar coat of a well-known brand, but the tag read "MADE IN FRANCE. It has a voluminous form that is distinctly different from the commonly known British-made coats, and there are many mysterious specifications here and there, such as "Musou tailoring" (a specification in which the outer fabric is turned inside out and all the fabric is made of the same fabric, even the reverse side). What kind of coat is this?
By sheer coincidence, HOUYHNHNM's famous projectThe latest installment of "Vintage Summit."But this coat is mentioned in the article.
This coat had such a mysterious existence, but when Mr. Kaneko heard that "it seems that each coat was made to order," he launched this project. So, this exhibition is an attempt to make (or order) the best coat of the modern era, based on the coat. This exhibition is an attempt to make (or order) the best coat of our time based on the coat.
We immediately asked Mr. Tsuyoshi Taira and Ms. Kaneko of "la favola," who actually tailor the coats, about this and that.
A coat made in France, which even Mr. Taira, a veteran craftsman, said he had never seen before. What exactly are its characteristics?
. "It has several features, but at a quick glance, I think it's a very modish coat. It's like a designer's coat. . It's very unbalanced by today's standards. The small collar against the generous width, the extremely thick arms, and so on.
. and because it is an old coat, there are still traces of handwork in places. Also, the hem has a lot of kicking around, so it looks cool when you walk. It feels like you are wearing a coat. Anyway, it is a very interesting piece of clothing.
." Ms. Kaneko continues. . despite that aspect, when you try it on, it's just beautiful. . It's not logical, it's simply cool. I have worn it quite often since I bought it in Paris, and I get compliments on it almost 100% of the time.
These four-way tapping details were also typical of the brand's time.
This coat is highly praised by the brave men and women of the past who have seen all kinds of clothes. This sample was made based on it.
Before making a sample for the production, Mr. Taira tried to assemble it once with a toile and was struck by an unspeakable anxiety.
. it was kind of unsettling. I wondered, "Is this really going to be all right? I was not sure if this was really OK. I could have made the sleeves a little wider and the collar a little larger, but Mr. Kaneko said, "This is OK!
The "Musou tailoring," which is the specification explained earlier, uses a lot of fabric. It is said that 7 meters of fabric is needed to make one coat. It is an extraordinarily extravagant specification. Mr. Taira says, "It is impossible to cut in a small space (laugh).
The sample comes in four sizes: S, M, L, and XL . It is a wonder that the garments look beautiful no matter which size you wear. The pattern can be enjoyed by people of all shapes and sizes, from small to large. . By the way, even though it is called S, it is more than a regular M.
Although this exhibition is an ordering session, not all parts can be arranged. Mr. Taira explains the reason for this.
We want to keep the atmosphere of the base coat in this order, so we will not change the bust, midriff, and kick-rotation, in other words, the girth of the body. So, for example, an order for a larger collar would be different from this project.
The unique feeling of falling from the shoulders to the sleeves creates an original form that is neither men's nor women's. .
Mr. Kaneko, who planned this project, says, "We could have tried mass-producing this coat as a standard, but since the base is so interesting, we thought it would be even better if it could be made to fit the detailed sizes of the wearer.
So what parts can be arranged? First of all, the fabrics. We have a wide variety of fabrics, including wool and check fabrics, as well as cotton gabardine.
By the way, here is the fabric of the base coat. It was a light gabardine with a faint finish, but this time we used a gabardine with a little more beating.
. and a button that awaits the customer with overwhelming volume.
Mr. Taira, who is a "maniac" according to Mr. Kaneko, happily told us.
. It would be boring to collect only the current ones, so we have prepared a variety of them. If you ask me what is different from the current ones, it is really a small thing, like the roundness is a little different. But there are still people who prefer the old buttons. Also, the size is different. Furthermore, we have a variety of threads for buttonhole drilling, from delicate to rugged. I feel that a rugged atmosphere suits this coat.
For example, in the collar, where the buttonhole is the face of the garment, I want the buttonhole to be tight, so I use a stiff core thread. On the other hand, if the buttonholes need to be opened and closed too tightly, the quality of the hand-hole will be lost, so I use soft threads for those areas.
. honestly, there is no point in cutting buttonholes by hand. . But because the coat is so well made, I want to do it by hand. It may sound strange to say that I am doing something that doesn't need to be done, but I want to add value by adding manual labor at key points.
The "kan-nuki" (bolt) is placed here to prevent the possibility of cracking" (Taira). The collar is beautiful even when it is turned up.
OLD NEW ENGLAND" will overturn the conventional concept of ordering. First of all, please visit the store and try on one of the sample coats. You will surely feel the charm that I have written about so far, which is hard to describe.
In addition, the circumstances leading up to the exhibition areKaneko's blog here. is also written in the following section. Please read it together.
Text_Ryo Komuta
OLD NEW ENGLAND
Date: Wednesday, May 30 - Monday, June 4
Venue: L'ECHOPPE Aoyama
Address: 3-17-3 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-5413-4714
Open: 11:00~20:00
Price: ¥240,000～
Delivery time: 4 months - (delivery time varies depending on the order sequence)
