Many of you may feel a sense of discomfort, in a good way, at the sight of these two men standing side by side. Keiji Kaneko of L'ECHOPPE and Takayuki Minami of Graphpaper. In fact, these two have known each other for 20 years and have been friends since the beginning of their careers. However, they have never been involved in business, and have only been watching each other's movements side by side, until now.
The base is a button-down shirt by Graph Paper, a standard item that has been in production since about the second season, and is so popular that it disappears from stores as soon as it arrives.
We asked Mr. Minami to describe the appeal of this seemingly basic shirt.
There are American-style shirts, like the big BD shirts of Ralph Lauren and the BD shirts of Brooks Brothers in the 1980s. I took that base and added the British fabric 'THOMAS MASON' to it.
Despite such a maniacal finish, as mentioned above, it is a popular item that is repeatedly sold out immediately. Mr. Minami was tilting his head at this phenomenon, but I think it is a very good thing. If it were only accepted by experts, it would be widely accepted. It is a hopeful story, isn't it?
According to Mr. Kaneko, "I think customers can see the appeal of the products when they see them, even if they don't hear about them.
Mr. Kaneko was attracted to this shirt, and while selling it at "Reshop," he dreamed of one day creating something together. Minami-san was the same way, and both of them had hoped to work together someday. This shirt is the result of that dream finally taking shape.
L'ÉCHOPPE for Graphpaper Collaborative Shirts ¥27,000+TAX
From here on, we will be presenting you in the form of a dialogue between the two of them.
moneyThe three countries that come to mind when I think of shirts are the U.S., the U.K., and France, and the key point this time was how to make shirts for France, the most maniacal of them all. To put it simply, the base was our own large-sized "Charvet" shirts. We often sell vintage Charvet, which sells out quickly, but we started with the idea of making it more contemporary.
MINAMIYes, that was our starting point.
moneyThe original inline BD shirts were so well made that I thought it would be okay to bring "Chalbe" as a story. I felt comfortable with that. I ended up choosing "Thomas Mason," the same fabric as the inline shirt, and I chose various fabrics while looking at the swatches.
MINAMIHowever, this is actually a fabric that is distributed overseas, so I don't think it is widely distributed domestically.
moneyI guess so. It is quite maniacal. On top of that, I left the form mostly to Mr. Minami.
MINAMIFor example, the way the shoulders are sloped. For example, the way the shoulders are sloped. I like them to be slightly sloped. Also, the hems are made to fit both in and out. Another key point is the high yoke. We also give a lot of volume to the garment. We both like thick sleeves, so we made them thicker. We also made the kama deep.
moneyI thought it would be better to include it considering the concept of this project. Actually, I thought it would be a no-brainer from Minami's point of view, but considering the concept of this project, I thought it would be better to include them. The only thing we modified was the stiffness of the interlining. They made several prototypes. The in-line shirts have a very thin interlining, but since "Chalbe" is a dress shirt, we followed that aspect somewhat, making the interlining a little stiffer than usual and adding a color stay to the collar.
MINAMII think I succeeded in creating a shirt that is distinctive, even though I usually reconfigure my shirts so that they can be worn in casual situations. I also experimented with various collar cores and found the perfect stiffness.
moneySize: One size fits all.
MINAMIThis is a holdover from when I was a salesperson, but the toughest thing for me was when a customer refused a garment because it was not in his or her size. That's why I always tried to make one-size-fits-all items from the beginning. In the first place, in vintage clothing, there was the problem of how to wear something that was a mess in shape and size, wasn't there? That gave birth to a strange balance, and it became interesting.
moneyI think it is a garment with a lot of blank space. Depending on who wears it, it will look completely different.
MINAMII think that's what I'm trying to do. That's what I want to do, to have the person come forward rather than the clothes. That's why I don't make clothes that are too small or too close to the body. If the shoulders fall nicely, most people should be able to manage. However, since there are many different ways of thinking, I like to make things that are poorly made, which I would never make myself. I look at it that way when I do my purchasing. I wonder if this poorly made item is sewn by myself? But when I hear that you have a factory sew poorly on purpose, I think, "That's amazing.
moneyI was just talking about this, and the next idea came to me (laughs).
MINAMII think Mr. Kaneko is a person who has this kind of feeling.
moneyYou are constantly traveling around the country to see manufacturing sites, and your selection of factories is getting better and better, isn't it?
MINAMII am looking at a lot of things. I like mismatches, such as asking a factory that can sew dress shirts to do a casual shirt. Naturally, I get a lot of disapproval, but in the end I end up on my knees (laughs). (Laughs.) I would ask for the impossible while laughing. But that is part of design, isn't it? That's about the only kind of design I can do. I am not a designer, but a director.
moneyNo, you're already a designer.
MINAMI: But I'm still frustrated every day when I see clothes from foreign maisons. Can you do something like this? Is there anywhere that can do this? I think, "It has to be of this level of quality. That's why our production staff is so hard to work with.
moneyI think that is a good thing.
MINAMII don't have enough time at all. However, I learn a lot by looking around the site. I learn a lot by looking at old documents and making many mistakes. I also combine these trips with buying.
moneyI always had an image of you as someone who directs or buys, but now I realize that you are already a craftsman. I get the same impression when I go to exhibitions of [graph paper] and listen to the explanations.
MINAMII think it would be interesting to go to the machine shop with Mr. Kaneko and work together to make things.
moneyI like it...a national tour.
MINAMILet's go. It's not that far. It's in Gifu or Hamamatsu, so we can go there on a day trip.
So, this collaboration will probably continue in some form. Let's look forward to more in the future. By the way, this shirt will go on sale on Saturday, November 17.
Text_Ryo Komuta
Graphpaper
Address: 1A,2D, Cary Mansion, 5-36-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-6418-9402
Graphpaper HIBIYA
Address: Tokyo Midtown Hibiya 3F, 1-1-2 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-6205-4860
L'ÉCHOPPE
Address: 1F,2F, 3-17-3 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-5413-4717
L'ÉCHOPPE for Graphpaper Collaborative Shirts
Color: Blue Irregular Stripe, Bordeaux Pinstripe, Blue, White, Black
Only Blue Irregular Stripe is available only at L'ÉCHOPPE.
