While social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become part of people's daily lives around the world, countless other social media platforms are emerging and disappearing. Against this backdrop, NOAVENUE launched in October 2014. We spoke with Yusuke Koishi, CEO of NOAVENUE, who previously worked in the planning and management of COMME des GARÇONS before going independent, about the service's vision and his thoughts on the future of fashion.

NOAVENUE is an online platform where users can propose creative ideas. Ideas are recruited from those who share their passion, and once ideas are gathered, they move on to the next stage, becoming reality. While using social media platforms like Tumblr, Koishi marveled at the powerful editing skills of many anonymous users, and wondered if he could create a space where such people could fully express their creativity. He believes that the collective wisdom of minorities holds the power of communication and creativity that companies and organizations lack. "I think that many of the ideas that are realized in the world today were already being discussed in conference rooms, cafes, bars, or on the street a few years ago. And there's no way of knowing what wasn't discussed, or what never made it past their heads due to hesitation or indecision, a natural human trait. Some of them may have been interesting. Since so many things don't make it into the real world, I wanted to see what would happen if there was a place to experimentally bring them out in the real world," says Koishi. He laughs, "In a way, it's like 2channel." He envisions a place that inspires and elicits reactions. Could this platform become a breakthrough in the current climate in the fashion industry? ■The "Aspect" of Fashion --What impact has technological change had on fashion? While it's generally perceived as merely the creation of new tools, I believe it has brought about some very significant changes. When we think of technology, we tend to associate it with computers, artificial intelligence, and other "inhuman" things. However, computers also have an aspect of being "intelligence amplifiers." From that perspective, for example, 100 years ago, the sewing machine could be considered a technology in the fashion world. The invention of the sewing machine popularized the idea of mass-producing small sizes, making suits available to everyone, and greatly stimulated the intellectual curiosity of creators at the time, expanding the possibilities of society. Recent technological changes can be said to have transformed the face of fashion, just as they did when the sewing machine was invented. I believe fashion has the potential to be more than just a medium, tool, or sales outlet.

--What is the difference between fashion in the past and fashion today?

I don't think anything has changed in the sense that fashion is related to codes that determine lifestyles and people's state of being. 200 years ago, clothing and behavior were coded, and most people followed unwritten social and household customs. I believe these customs shaped communities. While the world seems chaotic right now, perhaps in the next 10 years, or even 5, as big data and deep learning analysis become significantly more accurate, humans will have less room for independent thinking and will instead rely on machine recommendations and the rules displayed at the time. If that happens, there will likely be more opportunities for people who can think independently, as in the past, to find flaws in the system and create something new.

So, how will the future of fashion evolve?

There's a saying that "nature abhors change." When extreme change continues, it often backfires and swings back. When being able to make things becomes the norm, not making things attracts attention. And when the world becomes extremely market-sensitive, those who take advantage of predictable situations and hack information rise to stardom. In terms of big capital, fashion has tended to become a game of M&A in recent years. As companies become more famous by selling products, they increasingly consider selling their companies. This is a Silicon Valley-esque way of thinking, but it may be a reaction to the current abundance of material goods. Large luxury brands will continue to invest in new talent, recoup their investments, and maintain their position. Companies like Nike and Uniqlo, with the capital to carry out mass production and extensive R&D, will continue to invest and break new ground. There may also be hidden forces outside the industry. However, if this continues, I think we'll see a backlash. We may see a trend in which the artisanal act of simply creating high-quality products and conceptual activities become more valuable and receive more attention in a privileged way.

--No Avenue also has value as a marketing tool.

As the world tends to operate solely based on digital standards, it becomes gridded, and only things at the "intersections" of the grid become prominent. I believe that anything nuanced that falls outside the boundaries of that grid will be eliminated before it even exists. No Avenue is a place where we encourage people to post ideas that seem unlikely to exist, but would be interesting if they were to be realized, and where we collect data, confirm possibilities, record them, and work towards making them a reality. We hope that anyone can use this as a place to draw auxiliary lines on the grid all over the world and create "intersections."

Continued on 2/2.