The theme of The Pool Shinjuku was not announced to the public until the opening day, June 17th. This methodology may be one of the attractions of Hiroshi Fujiwara. His anticipation, followed by a surprising surprise, is reminiscent of a DJ-like approach, but this time he's introduced a surprise: a pool bar. It's a no-brainer, but it seems both unplanned and meticulously planned. This is the second part of a long interview with Hiroshi Fujiwara, who even came up with the novel idea of "breakfast at Isetan." --What is your intention in opening The Pool Shinjuku? I guess it's the excitement of being able to create something new in a place different from Aoyama. I couldn't imagine working with any other department store but Isetan, and I think Isetan is the only one taking on this kind of initiative. --What image do you have of Isetan, Mr. Fujiwara? Isn't Isetan the envy of department stores all over Japan? (laughs) Isetan has something different from the image of a department store we have, and I think that's starting to become a new image of a department store. Department stores used to have the image of only selling traditional items, not the kind of things we want, but I think Isetan has helped change that image to something more like a select shop.

--Have you always shopped at Isetan?

I never came to Isetan in my 20s, and I didn't shop much there in Shinjuku either. I feel like department stores back then were a little more distant from young people. Nowadays, they have the image of new things and are places where many people gather, but I think it's interesting that we're opening The Pool pop-up store at Isetan, which has the ability to attract customers. However, The Pool is not a brand, but a concept space. At this event, customers who learned about The Pool and wanted to buy our products would only find them in Aoyama, so I was talking to the staff and wondering whether there was any point in opening a pop-up store. --The "billiards" theme wasn't revealed until the opening day, June 17th. For the Isetan store, we did our best to create something that would come to mind when you think of the word "pool." Even if we asked Isetan to build a real pool, they probably wouldn't let us dig into the floor, so we imagined a fictional "pool bar." We'll have a black-painted billiards table and offer a selection of merchandise related to the theme, along with other items. We've even created products with the "the POOL shinjuku" logo. --Pool bars were popular in the 1980s in London, which overlaps with Fujiwara's imagery. It's a theme that's easy to incorporate into fashion, like snooker or Stüssy's eight-ball motif. There were a few key concepts, and based on those, we decided on original designs and custom orders with brands like Assemble and FPAR (Forty Percent Against Rights).
--I have the strong impression that the brands you collaborate with are ones that you've had a long-standing friendship with, Fujiwara-san?
I've known people like "Stussy," "Undercover," and "FPAR (Forty Percent Against Rights)" for a long time, like Nishiyama Toru, but I don't have a personal relationship with Azuma Makoto of "AMKK (Azuma Makoto, Kaju Kenkyusho)" or Aizawa Yosuke of "White Mountaineering." It wasn't until we started working together at The Pool that I discovered unexpected sides to their brands.
For example, "N.Hollywood" has a strong image of military and traditional styles, but it turns out they also like rock-inspired things. When we meet and talk, we find that we have a lot in common, though not everything, and we decide on the direction we'll work together right then and there. Everyone is very serious about their work, which is probably why their brands have lasted so long. Obana Daisuke of "N.Hollywood" posts a lot of hot spring photos on Instagram, and I sometimes think he works less than me (laughs).

--Did you encounter any difficulties in creating the project?

I'm not the type to stick to one thing, so if something doesn't seem possible, I'll move on to the next one. I'm quick to make decisions. Creators may have ideas that they absolutely cannot compromise on, but I don't want to waste time stalling on them, so I give up. This time, as with any pop-up at a department store, there were several store ideas that were not possible due to constraints, but I didn't dwell on them and quickly switched to other options.

--Fashion is a race against time, after all.

What I think is amazing about Isetan is that they created this pop-up overnight after the store closed the day before. Designing a pop-up store would probably take a month overseas. I'd like to see the setup site, but I'm a little hesitant to hear that it will be set up around 3 or 4 in the morning.

--Apparently it will be ready around 6 in the morning.

If it's 6 o'clock, you can have breakfast at Isetan. Doesn't Isetan serve breakfast? Tiffany & Co. in New York occasionally holds an event called "Breakfast in Tiffany," where they invite customers to shop from 7am with breakfast placed on the counter. Isetan should do breakfast. "Isetan Teishoku" sounds good, doesn't it?

-- "Breakfast" is popular in magazines, but do you ever go there to eat it yourself?

No, I don't. But if Isetan were to serve it, I'd definitely come and eat.


■Interview & text: Noda Tatsuya

＞Next time, we'll hear about the closure of The Pool Aoyama and his next ideas.
(Continued in Vol. 3)