The women's wear private brand offered at Isetan Mitsukoshi has embarked on a new initiative: "Manufacturing Beyond the Brand." This initiative transcends the boundaries of the brand, with buyers with specialized knowledge of each item striving to create even better products. This time, we'll focus on "cut and sew."

A-Girls Co., Ltd. is a textile company with a long-established circular knitwear factory in Wakayama that has been in business for over 80 years, and is trusted by many famous fashion houses both in Japan and abroad. Creative director Takao Ozaki was selected as one of the six most influential textile designers of 2016 at Premiere Vision, the world's leading textile trade fair. We spoke with Ozaki, who travels the world developing materials, and buyer Hatanaka to unravel the world of cut-and-sew clothing, crafted with sophisticated creativity and skill.

■“Comfort” “Clean” “Modern”



I'm in charge of cut-and-sew items for five private women's brands. Our customer base is diverse, but we all share the same belief: the mission of a department store is to propose a “rich lifestyle.” However, rather than offering extraordinary luxury items, we want to enrich our customers' everyday lives.

When we began this project, we first came up with three keywords that would connect to a "rich lifestyle." The first was "comfort." The second was "clean." The third was "modern." While searching for materials and item images based on these three keywords, we came across A-Girls. Above all, we felt that A-Girls was serious about their craftsmanship. The materials they handled also fit all three keywords, and we felt that their finished products would have a fresh, luxurious feel.




■Three Materials that A-Girls Takes Pride in




■ "Lotus Jersey" Made with India's Finest Extra-Long Staple Cotton



Hatanaka: "Lotus Jersey" is A-Girls' signature material. It's incredibly soft against the skin and comfortable to wear. Its tight weave makes it look beautiful, and it's hands-down the finest fabric I've ever touched.

Ozaki: The lotus refers to the lotus flower, the national flower of India. We travel to India to select extra-long staple cotton and spin it ourselves using our own original spinning process. This particular fabric uses a fairly fine-count yarn, even among Lotus's, and is knitted on a high-gauge machine, resulting in a smooth surface. Its texture and comfort make it what I consider to be the "ultimate T-shirt."

■ Seamless, stress-free "Lotus Round Body Rib"



Hatanaka: The second item is the "Lotus Round Body Rib," also made with Lotus yarn. Its most distinctive feature is the seamless, ribbed knitting at the sides. It's knitted into a small tube to match the width of the body, making this type of design possible. The seams don't touch the skin, and the stretchy material makes it stress-free to wear. This material was created with the idea that it could be worn while relaxing at home or as one-mile wear.

Ozaki: It's knitted on a retro knitting machine that has been in use since the early Showa era. It's extremely unproductive, taking five to ten times longer than a regular machine, but by knitting at a slow speed while slowly inflating the air, the original texture of the yarn is not lost, and it develops a stretch that fits the body well, resulting in a comfortable finish. It almost feels like hand-knitting. Adjusting old machines is difficult, so it's supported by the skills and intuition of artisans who have been around for years.

■The beautiful and elegant finish of "King Fleece"



Hatanaka: Fleece is generally thought of as a casual material, but King Fleece is a high-gauge, extremely smooth material. It's rare to find such a fine-knit fleece. It has a beautiful and elegant finish. It also has a firm texture, making it appealing for a wide range of items, from sweatshirts and T-shirts to jackets, bottoms, and dresses.

Ozaki: The name "King Fleece" comes from the idea that it is the king of fleece. It has the most compact weave and a lustrous, beautiful look of all A-Girls fleece fabrics. Made with high-quality American Supima cotton, the fabric feels firm and resilient. King Fleece is a product that transcends conventional fleece standards.

■ Bringing "Wabi-Sabi" to Textiles



Ozaki: I love cut-and-sew. They're stretchy, soft, and comfortable against the skin. Japanese cut-and-sew is truly amazing, and not just from our company. The artisans' sensibilities are particularly outstanding. That's why I want to spread it more globally. Having worked with international brands for a long time, I've come to realize that Japan has its own unique style, perfectly suited to each season. I believe the materials we make are also deeply rooted in the Japanese sense of meticulous consideration and care for seasonal materials. In that sense, I would like to continue to create fabrics that can be felt with all five senses, which are connected to the Japanese concept of "wabi-sabi" or spirituality.

Hatanaka: Ai Girl's materials are very modern, fresh, and have a sense of design. Their cutting-edge fabrics are made on old knitting machines. That's really fascinating, isn't it? They are particular about the knitting machines, the use of yarn, and various processing techniques. And thanks to Ozaki's outstanding creativity and the artisan's sensibility, they are able to create high-quality cut-and-sew items. I would like customers to take the time to look at, touch, and wear the products to experience their beautiful texture.