Nice to meet you. I'm Yamamoto (female) from the editorial department. Last week's article about Ebizo's skirts seems to have been surprisingly well-received, so I'm feeling a bit of pressure as I write my first column.

Well, in this job, I come across so many wonderful things. It's fun, and I get excited every day working. I fall in love with things at first sight, and sometimes I buy them while consulting my wallet. In this way, my collection of treasures grows, but today I'd like to introduce my most treasured possession of the year.

It's this photo. What do you see?

The answer is shoes. They're from a brand called Julian Hakes. In the fall of 2010, my eyes were glued to the model's feet at the Anne Sophie Back Atelier salon show in London. I immediately Googled "Julian Hakes," and discovered that they hadn't yet been released in stores. I continued to check the official website and Facebook page from time to time, and when I saw a message this summer saying, "Shipping soon!", I immediately contacted Julian. I learned that there were shops in Japan that carried the shoes, but I ordered them from the UK online shop that had released them first.

The name "Mojito" was born from Julian's question, "Are soles really necessary (for shoe construction)?" Julian, who designs bridges, wondered. Apparently, the name comes from the shoe's resemblance to the peel of a peeled lime.

Julian first posted the completed design on his blog. A few hours later, it was featured on the gadget news site Gizmodo, gaining popularity, and within days, he was receiving calls from former models ordering. This prompted him to decide to commercialize the shoes. After two years of trial and error, the Mojito shoes finally arrived. The packaging is lovely. I won't comment on their comfort yet, but they are easy to walk in. I wore them for an interview, and even Enno Capasa (Costume National) praised them.

I also wore them to a Julian Hakes exhibition the other day. Unfortunately, Julian was out, but a member of the press was so impressed he took a photo for me, saying, "This is the first time I've ever seen someone actually wearing these! I have to send a photo to Julian!" (lol)

According to Julian's tweets on social media, there seem to be talks of collaborations with various brands, so I'm looking forward to seeing more in the future. And I hope to find many wonderful treasures next year as well!!