In presenting your collection for 2 consecutive seasons at“PITTI UOMO”at Firenze and the Paris showroom“showroom.tokyo”, with what mind set did you face these?

From the start of the brand, it was my hope to spread developments both domestically and internationally, so I wanted to make this time’s exhibit in Europe my footing. However, as for creation aspects, rather than making changes conscious of overseas, I produced as I always do because I wanted to see the difference in reaction between Japan and overseas.

How was the reaction of the buyers and press whom came to the venue?

At PITTI, we received praise for our materials and/or quality of products, which we are particular about. On the other hand, the buyers at Paris tend to look for things they have never seen before, freshness, and so because our brand is weak in comprehensibility at one glance, at the first exhibit, I felt our brand would be at a slight disadvantage. But at the same time, I felt a strong trust towards“made in Japan”, which was extremely reassuring. However, this made me realize that we needed some conclusive factor, a plus-alpha aspect, to have people expressly buy Japanese brands which can’t help become expensive, so for the exhibit in June, I developed wool and silk textiles mixed with Japanese washi-paper, which I had been keeping my eye on from before. By preparing such an easy-to-comprehend doorway, the reaction to the brand changed drastically in a good direction.

Please tell us of the triumphant return event held during fashion week Tokyo this March.

In doing a presentation in Tokyo, I had the choice of doing either a runway show or installation, but to fully express the beauty of the clothing’s sense of material and/or shape, I felt a runway show in which models walk down the runway actually wearing the clothing would be the best method. Also, I believe the goodness of POSTELEGANT clothing cannot be truly conveyed unless people actually touch or put their arm through the sleeve, so I made it a show in which the guests sat in close proximity of the models, so much so that they could almost touch the clothing as the models walked by. This turned out to be the first show for the brand, but I feel we were able to express aspects which could not be fully expressed in look-book photos and/or exhibit presentations.

What kind of experience has participating in the TOKYO FASHION AWARD Program been for the brand?

Up to now, I’ve always worked according to the women’s calendar, so in order to present our collection during the overseas men’s fashion week term, I needed to largely step-up schedules. However, in truth, from quite a while back, with the TOKYO FASHION AWARD in mind, I had been gradually stepping up my production schedule, which worked as an advantage, allowing me to present my collection in full for 2 seasons despite the timing being at a time which coincides with the so-called women’s pre-season. For the brand, I think it was a positive experience being able to actually present our collection under such sense of schedule. Furthermore, because most of the other award-winning designers were older than I, they gave me all sorts of warm advice during the overseas exhibit term, which became a great nourishment for me.

Please tell us of your future aspirations.

Although the brand still very young and has not been running for long, I feel I have come thus far in much better shape than I had expected. The reaction from overseas to our latest seasonal collection has been especially good, and I am feeling a sure response, so I intend to continue making opportunities to present at Paris. I don’t have any specific goal as to how large a scale I want the brand to grow, but I’d like to continue presenting clothing to people around the world whom share our sense of values, while holding dear this atmosphere which allows me to make those things I want to make.