Designer Shimase Takaaki and pattern maker Shimamura Kodaita's new brand, tac:tac, will debut in the 2014-2015 Autumn/Winter collection under A-net Inc. The brand name is a combination of the sound of a ticking clock, tactics—a plan for achieving a specific goal—and the designer's name, Takaaki. The repeated use of the same word also conveys continuity and symbolism. The iconic motif of a wall clock without a shaft, used on the brand name tag, represents the desire for people to be conscious of the time axis involved in selecting, purchasing, and wearing clothes. To kick off the brand's debut, tac:tac will open a pop-up store and presentation on the first floor of a 50-year-old apartment building in Koenji, Tokyo, located on the former site of Akino Dance School (3-1-2 Koenjikita, Suginami-ku, Tokyo), which the designer himself discovered by chance. The event will run from November 22nd to 30th, and will also be open to the general public. A pop-up store will then open at the Kaban Zucca Minami-Aoyama store from December 4th. While the looks for the 2014-15 AW collection feature only men's models, women's models will be added to the image visuals for 2015 SS and onward. The products sold at this pop-up store are also genderless, with sizes available for women. While studying at Esmod Osaka in 2008, Shimase Takaaki won the Grand Prix at the Kobe Fashion Contest held the following year in 2009. He received a special prize and studied at Esmod Paris in 2011, graduating with honors. Shimamura Kodaita, who also graduated from Esmod Paris with honors, worked as head pattern maker for the fashion brand commuun before returning to Japan in 2012. The two, who spent time in Paris at the same time, founded Takutaku together in 2013 when Shimase returned to Japan, and began operations in Spring/Summer 2014.
Based on the idea that "we want to be simply a medium, not the subject of expression," the concept is to gradually build up the brand as a "place" where people can gather, based on the joy and pleasure of unexpected discoveries, the special feelings of each individual, and the new empathy, shareability, and excitement that lie within. Look photography and styling to date have been handled by a like-minded team, and the 2014-2015 Autumn/Winter collection featured a T-shirt in collaboration with young illustrator Shun Sudo.
Recognizing the position of consumers, who are forced to choose from a world saturated with goods and a vast amount of information, and concerned that discovering new empathy is necessary to create a positive flow for the future, the brand's message is filled with the desire to communicate things that speak symbolically to oneself, and the importance of designing processes and flows.
