--You didn't study at a fashion school, so how did you actually learn how to make clothes?

I copied what I saw. I still don't know how to make patterns. The first thing I worked on was specifications for cut and sewn clothes and knitwear. New designers taught me how to write specifications. If I was doing that, I wouldn't need patterns. I memorized the dimensions intuitively, measured T-shirts from various brands, and pursued my own sizing. I'm sure I can still find that first specification somewhere if I look. However, I can't find the original skull drawing. I remember asking a graphic designer to create the design, but... (laughs). I didn't have any money, so I probably drew it on old paper, or the backs of photocopied papers. Looking back, I kind of regret not keeping it safe (laughs).

--So you steadily learned on your own.

Right. Thanks to meeting so many pattern makers, I was able to concentrate on design. Sometimes they would look at my design drawings and say, "I can't do this." So I'd tear them up, rearrange them like origami paper, and insist, "If you do this here and in that order, I'm sure you can sew it!" (laughs). Repeating this process would eventually lead to, "Yes, it might work that way." My hobby was imagining and creating things without looking at blueprints or plastic models, so I'm good at that sort of thing (laughs). When we couldn't find the answer, we'd explain why we'd drawn it and why we wanted to turn it into clothing, and we'd all agonize over it together. We'd find solutions that didn't exist in our own methodologies. The brand has grown as I've learned from them every day. I'm still a beginner.

--Have your designs changed at all since the company was founded?

I don't think my design style has changed at all. Of course, there are silhouettes that reflect the times, like thicker sleeves, but the fundamentals of the design remain the same. We've been selling shorts since the days when they didn't sell at all overseas. That's because I used to wear shorts to Paris even in winter (laughs).

--When did the skull first appear as a brand icon?

The first time we used a skull was for a mail-order campaign in the magazine "smart," which collected lesser-known but interesting brands. I designed a T-shirt based on the message, "We'll definitely sell at least 100," but it sold so poorly that it probably holds a record (laughs). In the end, I only sold maybe 10 (laughs). That was when I made my first skull T-shirt. This was back in the very early days.

--When did you start using the skull as an icon in earnest?

Around the third season after entering the Paris market. I'd always loved skulls and wanted to use them, but at first I wasn't sure what to do with them. I felt that unless I created a skull that I thought was cooler than the skulls that top brands like Yohji Yamamoto, Undercover, and Number Nine had used in the past, there was no point in using them and no right to use them. From then on, I probably drew close to 1,000. I don't have a computer, so I draw everything by hand. Interestingly, just a single line can make the face look angry or handsome. By my fourth season in Paris, the prototype of the current design was already complete. It sounds a bit self-proclaimed, but I thought, "This skull is so handsome!" (laughs). Because I put so much effort into this trademark, I thought it would be a shame to stop using it after just one or two seasons, so I made it my icon. The mere idea of casual clothing made entirely from high-quality materials was already met with praise in Paris at the time for its new direction, but the addition of the skull as an icon made it even more striking. However, skulls were met with considerable controversy at the time. Being in Europe, religious issues were also deeply rooted. A TV crew came to interview us in Paris, and when they came to our booth, they were so surprised by the skull that they told us they could never broadcast our brand. About a year later, H&M started using skulls, and they became a common design (laughs).

--The all-silk sukajan jacket embroidered with a skull is a legendary masterpiece that overturned conventional wisdom about sukajan jackets.

The sukajan jacket began when I visited a long-established sukajan shop in Yokosuka and said, "I want to make an original sukajan jacket." At first, the motifs weren't skulls, but tigers, dragons, and hawks. We decided to sell it at Maxfield for the second season, and when I thought about what to do this time, I came up with a simple idea: "It's summer, so cashmere isn't an option, so I'll make a sukajan out of silk." I decided to go with the skull motif. I had a bold idea, hand-embroidered silk, and after much trial and error, they brought it to fruition. It was an expensive item, and only about five were produced. But after it was featured in a magazine, the response was incredible. I remember it cost around 200,000 yen, and people were like, "What's 200,000 yen for a sukajan!?" (laughs)

--When did you release your first sukajan jacket with a tiger, dragon, and hawk motif? All three styles were unveiled at the first, elusive Tokyo Collection in 1998. What do you mean by elusive Tokyo Collection? It means that they're virtually unknown (laughs). At the time, nearly 150 people showed up to a venue that could accommodate 100. For those who couldn't get in, we even set up a monitor at the entrance and played a video. So for the second time, we limited the venue to about 250 people so everyone could sit instead of standing, but this time it was completely empty. Maybe it was because it was pouring rain, but I remember there were a lot of empty seats. Actually, actor Takumi Saito appeared as a model in this show. I was hunting models on the streets of Shibuya when I happened to pass him in the restroom at Parco. I thought he was tall and handsome, so I called out to him. So, was it not featured in the collection magazines of the time? Probably not. If they had been, I'd have saved them (laughs). I remember that the first time I was featured in a magazine was in a magazine called "Momo," which featured indie brands, though I think most people don't know about it. It was the first issue around 1998.
*Continued in vol.3