#06 Takayuki Kijima / Hat Designer
Collaboration and close interaction with artists and creators is a special and important time that allows you to face creativity seriously. Empathize with their positive pride and mentality, and listen to their voices. By delivering it to many people,WIND AND SEAis constantly evolving.
#06 is Takayuki Kijima, the designer of “Kijima Takayuki.”
Something that should never be the main character.
To leave a great overall impression
Hats have a role in fashion.
Before entering the hat industry, I simply loved fashion. When I was looking for what I could do, I vaguely thought about my future and thought that ``accessories that can be involved in clothing'' would be suitable for me. One day, I saw an advertisement for a hat class hosted by Akio Hirata in the magazine "an-an" and thought it might be interesting. That's when I started attending, and that's when I met the teacher. After that year of being so unscrupulous and lazy that I didn't want anyone to hear about me, I didn't even have to choose my next class, so I talked to the classroom about looking for a job, and soon I was told that there was a vacancy in Mr. Hirata's atelier on the floor above, so I immediately interviewed him and was offered a job.
I was very lucky that there was a job opening at that time, but at the time, making hats was considered to be a difficult job for women. In particular, fitting winter felt or summer natural materials into wooden molds requires a surprising amount of strength, and steaming at high temperatures can make your hands rough. At that time, there were only two men in the atelier, so I was hired immediately.
When I was young, I enjoyed making my own arrangements of old American clothes, but I was greatly influenced by England when I visited there. London fashion in the 1980s was in a period of transition, when the so-called London-like styles such as punk tastes began to incorporate hip-hop tastes and movements such as dancing to jazz began to emerge. Judy Brehm of House of Beauty and Culture and others opened shops there, and I felt a sense of coolness in the style, which was not seen in Japan. Also, the normally fashionable people around you wear work boots with a relatively casual suit. I felt a culture shock because of the very free fashion style. I think the experience of learning the fun of taking off hats, rather than the rules that say, ``It has to be this way,'' is reflected in the way I think about hats today.
The position and role of hats in fashion will never change for me. It doesn't have to be the main character, or rather, it's better not to be the main character. I think it's nice to see a person's style leave a lasting impression as a whole, rather than focusing on one part.
I think that most general hat manufacturers specialize in making products to a certain extent. But I'm also greedy and competitive, and when it comes to hats, I don't want to lose to anyone, so I want to cover everything. And I'm not very good at wearing hats. That's why I can understand the feelings of the many people in the world who don't like hats, and even though I'm the creator of them, I'm in the same position as them. Perhaps the uniqueness of the brand lies in the fact that I create the products myself, and that in the end I have a unified sense of how things "fit".
He is both a designer and a craftsman.
I learned that by studying haute couture.
Hats have a role in fashion.
I sew the samples myself. I only draw my own illustrations like memos, so in the end I cut out the pattern myself and then sew it, thinking about how to insert stitches, how to open it, etc. on the spot. After all, there are many things that cannot be understood just by sitting on a desk. Based on my experience in hat couture, I design each hat by imagining how it would be worn by a variety of people, paying close attention to the details in order to provide the most beautiful item to each individual. Of course, the design comes to me first, and I need technical ideas to bring it to fruition, so my title can be said to be both designer and craftsman.
When starting overseas sales, my turning point was 11 years ago when I changed the brand name from the previous brand to "Kijima Takayuki." Before that, I tried my best not to give interviews or appear in magazines, but with the spread of social media, I realized the importance of adapting with the times. When it came to expanding overseas, I felt comfortable and thought that I would be able to share my experience gained over many years in Japan and the way hats should be presented to as many people as possible, but I didn't get any response at all. First of all, Japan and Europe have completely different ways of thinking. Japan is a country of peace. There is a culture in which people think about things in terms of total balance, but in Europe, traditional stereotypes, such as "one hat for hunting," seem to be deeply rooted. I realized that the free, rule-free mixing sense that I was attracted to in London in the 1980s was actually a very unique Japanese feeling, and I found it difficult.
SNS is a consciousness of empathy. It has become easier to travel overseas, and the hurdles have become lower. Nowadays, hats are being spread by people from overseas who come to Japan and like the hats. I think it has become easier to be recognized over time by sticking to our own style, rather than the previous idea of having bases overseas and changing the way we make products to suit overseas needs to gain recognition and spread the word.
Our important goal is to have as many people as possible know about Kijima Takayuki. We want to deliver our style to as many people as possible. Hats are also difficult to tell whether they look good on you or not until you try them on, so I would like to expand our directly managed stores overseas. I think if people get to know about it, they'll like it. I'm also a bit overconfident (lol)
