THINGS I LOVE vol.21

　

I have been attending shows in places like Milan, Paris, and New York for about 30 years, but I have also been on the side of ``watching'' shows for a short time.

I was involved in styling and model casting for the ``kolor'' show at the men's collection in Paris in January 2012. At the time, when I was in Tokyo, I used to go to a snack bar in Nakameguro every night for karaoke, and many people from the fashion industry frequented the bar, so I became familiar with some of them there. One night, as I was singing along, Junichi Abe, the designer of kolor, came up to me and started talking to me. ``Sukezane-san, I'm doing a collection next time, and I'd like your help.'' I was drunk and said, ``OK, OK, I'll do whatever I want, but let's talk about it during the day,'' and that was the end of the night.

A few days later, I received a phone call from Mr. Abe, and we started talking about the collection I was talking about the other day. When I listened to his story, I thought, ``He was serious.'' I thought for sure that it was going to be at the Tokyo Collection, so I was surprised to hear that it was about the Paris Fashion Week. "What, is that the Paris Fashion Week?!" I instantly stiffened. The next day, I met with Mr. Abe to finalize various schedules, and realized that once the clothes were finished, we would have to move things along at breakneck speed. There is only about two weeks from when the clothes are finished until the day of the collection. They traveled to Paris with the show samples, completed casting in two days, and then took on the real challenge. All of this has to be done in two weeks. However, it was at a time when my enthusiasm for viewing collections had waned considerably, so I was happy to be invited at such a good time. I first saw the design drawings, listened carefully to Mr. Abe, and was very particular about casting the models. After all, this is the debut show of Paris Fashion Week. I definitely wanted it to be a cool show. I thoroughly researched new recruits working for overseas modeling agencies, and also asked a friend in London to go on a street hunt to find fresh young people. Appearance is important, but above all, I asked him to find someone with ``taste.'' They wanted to have a mix of young, beautiful models and amateur models with tastes that would appeal to men walking the runway. I had decided on five people with taste that I had found in London before I went to Paris.

Early in the new year, I decided on the coordination at the ``kolor'' atelier. At that time, the kolor atelier was located in Yoyogi Hachiman, right near my home, so I walked there. The situation of preparing for Paris Fashion Week near my home was also a bit interesting. I did a lot of styling over the course of two days and decided on the look. It was my first time working with Mr. Abe, but he didn't give me too many orders and let me do what I wanted. When I started to see the whole look, I realized that most of the pants were short, and even though the socks were visible in most looks, there was little variation in socks. I kind of expected that when I saw the drawing, so I thought, ``Budd.'' I had 30 pairs of red shirts from 'Shirt Makers' on hand. The haws definitely stand out, so I thought it would be a great idea to highlight the beautiful red haws. I also felt that incorporating basic items for gentlemen into the styling would raise the profile of the brand as a men's brand. I asked him to go street hunting in London because I thought that the coolness, nonchalance, and uncoolness that are typical of London men would make for a nice way to dress down.
We expected an innocent and pure mood from the beautiful new model. I wanted the five tasteful Londoners to create a wild and realistic mood. The collection was successfully completed, and the next day's Herald Tribune included an article praising the scarlet red haws, and received positive reviews.

Since then, I have worked on Kolor's Paris collection for a total of three seasons. It was a great experience. However, there was one problem. If you work on a show, you won't be able to watch other brands' shows. “Seeing” and “showing”. It's hard to say, but it was also difficult to let go of what I had been watching for over 20 years, so I quit my job as a ``shower.'' However, I am grateful that I was able to learn many things through the three seasons of ``kolor.'' I had covered the backstage of shows before, but it wasn't until I actually worked as a staff member that I was able to understand the reality behind the show. Above all, I realized firsthand that the biggest driving force behind a show's success is the enthusiasm and love for the brand from all the staff, including the designers.

　

■Tomoki Yuma (@stsukezane）
Born in Kyoto City in 1965. Started his career as an editor in the editorial department of Magazine House ``POPEYE''. Currently, in addition to planning and styling fashion pages for magazines, she also designs advertising costumes for artists and musicians. Before the coronavirus, he covered men's collections in Paris and Milan for over 35 years.

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