Hi it's Shohei.
"Fleece Jacket w/BORO" exclusively for DAN will be available on this Saturday, October 16 at "DAN " and KUON Flagship Store.
Prior to the launch, we had an interview with Mr. Hazumu, owner of DAN, Daiki, store manager of DAN and Ishibashi, designer of KUON at DAN a few days ago.
【Contents】
1. Approach to the coproduced item
2. About the fleece jacket
3. Key points of the jackets
4. About the relationship between KUON and DAN
5. About Hazumu and Daiki
1. Approach to the coproduced item
Shohei (S; hereafter)：Can I ask you guys about the collaboration on behalf of our customers, today?
Hazumu (S; hereafter), Daiki (D; hereafter) and Ishibashi (I; hereafter)：Of course.
S：Could you tell us about the approaches to the collaboration, first?
H：Ok. First of all, We especially Daiki always had the idea that it would be cool if KUON made outdoor-inspired clothes...then, we found some inspiration of outdoor garments in the FW21 collection, so I asked Ishibashi to produce an item that is in Daiki's mind. Naturally, we put Daiki to handle this collaboration. This is the first experiment because I and Ishibashi talked together to decide what to produce in the past collaboration.
S：I see. So, the concept is brought by Daiki, right?
D：Yup, we have co-produced several items that features BORO but BORO were put on sleeves and other parts that would be hidden in winter season...In talking with customers, we realized that the sleeves cost almost 20,000 yen, but they would be hidden...
I：Customers cannot show the main parts in the Winter...
D：Absolutely. It's not a problem in other seasons. I've been looking for a way to enjoy BORO as a design points even in winter. Since the fleece jacket is one of the most popular items in our store, we thought it would be interesting to use BORO for the collar of the fleece jacket.
I：I remember that we have talked about it when we went out to drink together before the pandemic.
H＆D：Yea!
I：It must be 2 or 3 years ago...
S：In an Izakaya?
I：yea, We have been planning this work for 3 years. LOL
H：Could be. To be honest, we started talking about the work seriously about 6 months ago.
2. About the fleece jacket
S：Could you introduce the product?
D：Ok. As we mentioned, we produced a fleece jacket that features BORO.
D：The chest and collar are decorated with UPCYCLED BORO. I asked Ishibashi to use it for sure because it gives an overwhelming atmosphere.
D：It was very important for me to have UPCYCLED BORO on the collar, but I also asked him to use it on the chest pocket for considering the overall balance. So, even if you wear it as an inner layer of a coat, the BORO will become an accent.
D：The tabs on zippers are made of BORO as well.
I had a hard time choosing the color of the fabric...black is super popular in our store, but I chose dark navy because it matches BORO well and is a color that represents KUON, and this navy is deep enough, and looks almost black.
S：Thanks, Daiki. The problem of "hiding the BORO in winter" has been solved, and even BORO looks great when worn as inner wear.
Key points of the jackets
S：Ishibashi, could you explain about the process of designing and production?
I：When I got a request to produce a fleece jacket from them, I sourced fabrics. No need to tell you but, we think the fabric is one of the most important element of clothing. I checked more than 20 fleece fabrics with them, right?
H：We did.
I：There were many points that I was particular about such as the material, thickness and texture, but I was very particular about the color.
We both had no complains on "navy", but as I looked at the fabric swatches, Daiki and I talked we didn't want anything too dark or too light...we took so long to narrow it down to two. Then I made samples with the fabrics we selected. I knew it would be hard for them to decide the fabric without actual samples.
I：As you see, the lining is made of mesh, but not just any mesh, it is made of "thermal storage" material so it is light and warm. Originally, the mesh was used for breathability, but I chose a lining that also stores heat well to focusing on its "lightness".
S：How did you guys selected this color? Were there any particular reasons?
D：To be honest, I was so confused that I decided by process of elimination. LOL
H：You were torn between this and a slightly lighter one.
I：I purchased the 2 fabrics because we couldn't decide by looking at the swatches.
H：It helped a lot.
I：The larger size would give you a different impression. You still had a lot of trouble even we got larger fabrics, didn't you?
D：It was a hard time...
I：I'm confident in our choice.
H：Agree.
I：Do you mind if I talk about what you derived your idea from?
H：No, we usually derive our ideas from something.
I：We started with the Patagonia fleece jacket as a reference. They wanted to integrate BORO as a design point. I wanted the shape to have an urban feel, or something that would be wild but sleek, and that could be worn as both innerwear and outerwear.
I took time to design the shape of the sleeves. I showed a test sample to them with 2 kind of sleeves on it. The one is an one-piece sleeve that is a kind of wild shape, and the other is derive from blazers.
H：Your specialty.
I：Yup. It resulted in this nice shape. Daiki, you paid much attention on the length, didn't you?
D：I did. Not to long, not to short. Since I like slim pants, I requested to make them a bit shortened so that they match well with slim pants.
S：Sounds like you produce what you want.
D：Not only me but also our customers do.
I：I forgot to mention this, but the tabs on zipper. It was originally made with grosgrain tape, but we didn't like it. Then, I used BORO and tried the one used in the product and a braided one like the BORO Device Strap.
I：I had expected, but the braided one was too tough and strong as a design point, so I finally decided to use the current one with arranging a bit. The edge is left "raw" so that they would unravel over time.
S：Did you guys check the braided one?
H：Yes, we did. It was...hard to explain but it was too...ethnic...?
I：LOL
H：In addition to the 2 kind of sleeves, the BORO parts of the sample were made with BORO printed fabric, so it was easy for me to imagine the finished product.
I：We have talked a lot about the collar.
D：Yup.
I：Not to low, hot to high.
S：You guys considered when it is worn as an inner wear?
D：BORO appears, but not too high.
I：We paid attention on all the angles.
D：I guess the BORO helps keeping its shape.
I：It backs up the fleece fabric.
S：Thank you guys, let's move on to the next topic. It seems the conversation with this topic never ends because you guys have paid so much attention on all the details.
4. About the relationship between KUON and DAN
S：Could you tell us about the relationship between KUON and DAN?
H：Can we start from the very beginning?
S：Yes, please. I would like to hear about it.
H：Let me see…for me the beginning was that I uploaded a YouTube video to introduce a KUON long sleeve Tee that features ICHIMATSU on sleeves that I purchased in a store in Nakameguro. After uploading the video, Fujiwara, the founder of KUON contacted me to invite me to their office, it was located in Nakameguro back then.
I：Wasn't it at a showroom in Tokyo?
H：No, I visited your office.
I：What I remember is this unbelievable story. One day, all the long sleeve T-shirts in all KUON dealers suddenly sold out. We were so confused because we had never experienced that kind of situation. A few days later, we found out that Hazumu introduced the T-shirt on his YouTube. Then, we invited him to our office.
S：In KUON Store, we have many customers who watch Hazumu channel.
I：We had some conversation at that time, and you started buying KUON right away?
H：It was not that time. I guess it was the next time I saw you. I was not able to talk about buying or something important...I was just asked "What do you do?"
I：Yeah, we were just curious.
H：It was like a job interview. LOL
S：When is it?
H：It was about a few years ago. I guess three years ago. I remember that I just opened my store.
I：I was worried if he brought his camera and shooting when he came in...we had never met YouTuber. LOL To be honest, I was so surprised that he was super polite and such a nice guy!!
After that, DAN started carrying KUON, and our relationship has continued in a natural flow.
H：Talking about our first business, when I said I wanted to buy long sleeve T-shirts, he said, "We can make the white one" which meant he would reproduce the one I bought. He also asked me if I wanted to produce another color for our exclusive. So we decided to go with light blue.
I：I remember the light blue one.
H：It was also very popular and sold out quickly. It is the beginning of our story.
S：It is so surprising that all the long sleeve T-shirts sold out in all the KUON dealers...
5. About Hazumu and Daiki
S：Lastly, , Hazumu and Daiki, could you introduce yourselves for whom don't know about you?
H：OK. I've been running a YouTube channel under the name "ハズム(Hazumu)" for about 4 or 5 years now, and I basically make videos related to fashion.
"ハズム (Hazumu)" YouTube channel
H：3 years ago, I opened a multi-label store called "DAN" in Nakameguro, selling products that I planned with various brands, and recently I have been planning and making my own products.
S：Thank you, Hazumu. Daiki, please go ahead.
D：I've been running a YouTube channel called "九州タワーズ(Kyushu Towers)" for about five years, and three years ago I was approached by Hazumu and have been involved in "DAN" as a store manager.
"九州タワーズ (Kyushu Towers)" YouTube channel
S&I：Hazumu, Daiki, thank you for your time today.
H＆D：Thank you for having us.
Again, the "Fleece Jacket w/BORO" will be available on this Saturday, October 16 at "DAN " and KUON Flagship Store.
Don't miss it!
