Collaboration Project
Yasuhiro Watanabe & Kaie Murakami

First of all, how did you both decide to collaborate with MINEDENIM this time?

MurakamiNabe-san (Note: Yasuhiro Watanabe) started making denim in the last collaboration.

WatanbeLast year, I was asked to make bespoke denim with MINEDENIM, but in fact, I really wanted to make the standard denim I wear as a stock for my wardrobe in the future. (Smile).People of the same generation around me started making the clothes they wanted to wear in the latter half of the 90's, and now it's surprisingly quick.On the other hand, at that time, I was very limited in my favorite silhouettes, navy in terms of color, and my favorite fields, so I wanted to wear denim or navy, which is interpreted by various brands.But now that I'm at this age, my favorite things have finally settled, so it would be nice if I could make an essential for myself, or make my own standard, and share it a little (to the buyers). I have a feeling that it is.So, I was asked "Would you like to collaborate with MINEDENIM on two classic denims?" And the previous project was realized.When I was chatting with (Murakami) Kaie at the shooting site, I was talking about "It's similar to your favorite direction, so let's make it together", so let's make it together this time. It's a flow to get it.That's what happened when I was talking casually, right?

MurakamiI agree.In the first place, people in the fashion industry don't usually wear flashy things.Rather sober.

It is also an implicit etiquette for people in the profession who go to the shooting site to face the site with a plain color so that the photos and videos do not get colored or reflected.

MurakamiThat's why the things they both wear are becoming more and more basic.However, since I'm from a fashion field, I'm noisy about the materials and details (laughs).I'm worried about things that everyone doesn't care about, such as having a more collar or a wider width. In the first place, a story like "If so, isn't it better to make it ourselves?"I only wear navy or black, and even if it's the same navy, I never wear shallow navy, and I have a lot in common with Nabe-san.

If you like navy, you can understand the feeling that if you keep wearing navy clothes, you will only like dark navy from a certain time (laughs).Now, I would like to ask you two about denim, but do you remember what the first denim you bought was? ..

WatanbeI bought it for the first time when I was 12 years old.He was Big John's Rigid (laughs).

MurakamiRigid started from that time (laughs).

WatanbeIf you say so (laughs).After that, I bought a Levi's 501, but my hometown was Yamaguchi Prefecture, and there was a UNIQLO store that was also at my knees. Was left a little.I bought a 501 there, but it was also rigid (laughs).

Murakami(Smile).The first thing I bought was a Levi's 505 black denim.My local senior wore 505 with VANS, and I was inspired by the fact that he said, "This is the coolest thing."With that in mind, it was black denim from the beginning.

Doesn't it mean that both of you haven't shaken your favorite things since then? (Smile)

WatanbeThat's right (laughs).When I became an adult, I started to wear rigid denim without watering it, but when I was a junior high school student or high school student, I bought denim and then watered it once. ).

MurakamiContinuing to wear it as a rigid is a culture that has taken root a little later.

WatanbeThat's right.Around my late teens, things like Armani jeans and French jeans became popular.With that trend, designer-like denim is also worn, and then jeans with holes in the second-hand clothing store "Chicago" are cheap, so it's popular, and bootcuts are popular.But I've always been rigid. I've been thinking about the 501 since I was a teenager because it made me feel uncomfortable with the shoes, and it was very difficult to match it. I came to come.

MurakamiWhen I was a teenager, I liked London's street fashion, and although I was sick, I had to wear women's 25-inch or 26-inch because I couldn't sell slender denim. There were times.After that, from the mid 90's, it was like how to match Supreme's clothes with APC denim as a minimalist street style.So, I think the basic structure hasn't changed much as it grows older and the quality improves.

WatanbeI see.Speaking of denim, when I was a stylist, the biggest thing was that I started going to London two or three times a year from the late 90's.At that time, many Japanese acquaintances lived in London, and even though they were in the style of British Gents, they dared to wear Levi's 2-inch or thick American denim. It looked cool.While being influenced by their style and culture, I felt like I should always use denim because I work behind the scenes at the shooting site.So, since 3, I may not have worn anything other than rigid denim.

Many of the Japanese creators who were in London at that time are now based in Tokyo, and there was a background that was influenced by them.On the other hand, how about Mr. Murakami?

MurakamiI'm 90% black denim.Moreover, it is almost slim or skinny.I think there are about 30 black denims alone.There are different inches of the same thing, and when the color fades, I buy the same thing again.Only recently, I sometimes wear Supreme's tapered black denim.

WatanbeAfter all it's black (laughs).In Levi's, is it like a silver tag?

MurakamiI agree.Slender black denim on boots is now like a uniform.Looking only at the lower half of the body, it looks like (laughs) with Mr. Tsuyoshi (Noguchi).

(Smile).Then, about the story of this collaboration, it's the two colors of your favorite black and navy, right?

MurakamiThat's right.I also like navy, which is close to black, so I talked with Nabe-san about the color of dark blue, but if I thought that it was spring and summer and I didn't like black because it was too black, I would like to use Solotex this time. There was just black ink on the fabric.In the first place, both Nabe-san and I have to shoot in one of our usual jobs, and depending on the location, we have to wear it in a dirty environment.On the other hand, I have to attend a serious meeting.However, there are few people who become corona and wear suits, and since neither of them originally wears a suit, it would be nice to have a proper one with a collar, although it is casual, so I like the coach jacket. Let's talk.I want a casual setup that can be worn on or off and looks good.

That's how it was born.Why were the bottoms shorts instead of long pants?

Watanabe & Murakami...... Because it's spring and summer (laughs).

(Lol).

MurakamiI also made a sample of long pants, but I did so because the shorts were more suitable for the material.When looking for the fabric this time, I was particular about the color of the navy, so MINEDENIM asked me to look for the fabric quite a bit.

WatanbeCoach jackets are attractive because they have the feeling of souvenirs and other goods, but I was wondering if there was a clean coach jacket with a good material instead of nylon.

In summary, the coach jacket that they made this time is an adult jacket that can be adapted to their profession and work content while working in the life of Corona Whirlpool.

MurakamiI agree.Moreover, this fabric is made of recycled polyester from PET bottles.While working with various companies, I think that environmental problems and stock defects are also issues, so I want to be particular about the quality of the material, but I also want to be environmentally friendly, so I want to do what I can. Is the premise.However, I don't just want to make eco-friendly clothes that smell like sermons.Both of them have been wearing good clothes as they are, and while looking around, there is a place where they have to go out every day, but now there is a corona and the boundary between on and off is disappearing. Isn't it?In that situation, the first thing I wanted to do was to make clothes that were good enough and had environmental performance.Also, since both of us are in the car, we wanted a short jacket that was easy to mix and match.

WatanbeI like wearing a coat, but I get in the car almost every day, so it's a little annoying to worry about the hem.

Coach jackets are close to people who look like cool senior skaters when they were young, and they also wore heroic icons that appeared in magazines and media at the time, so coach jackets are closely related to cool people and culture. Isn't it attractive as clothes because it has a strong admiration that it is in?

WatanbeMight be so.That's the same thing with denim, right?

MurakamiI think that is definitely the case for generations.But the younger generation, who have a good taste, are good at mixing old-fashioned denim.

WatanbeMy uncle can't do it anymore (laughs).

Murakami(Smile).Like the clothes I made this time, clothes with a background of American culture are elegantly finished, and it will suit young people from adults who are older than us in a social position. I wanted to make it such a versatile one.When you made the sample, you talked with Nabe-san, "Isn't there anyone who doesn't look good on this?"

WatanbeIt's like a coverall or an evolution of a denim jacket that anyone can wear in a uniform.

MurakamiAlso, Nabe-san only wears thick pants, and I only wear thin pants, but the coach jacket suits both of them, and it also suits shorts, so I think it's versatile in a sense.For business trips, this setup may be sufficient.

Also, if you have one pair of your usual pants, you can go anywhere on a trip.

WatanbeI can't put shorts in a club in Ginza (laughs).

All(Lol).