INTERVIEW: - VISVIM'S HIROKI NAKAMURA
Visvim is one of the most coveted labels on the market, defined by the encompassing philosophy of philosopher, traveller, and designer, Hiroki Nakamura. The Japanese label has grown and evolved with great distinction over the past decade and under the watch of this visionary, it will forever continue to capture attention. Nakamura is on a mission to create the best garment and product possible where no detail is compromised and every product is created with authenticity, quality and comfort in mind; not in replicating traditional quality but exceeding it.
On a trip to Los Angeles, I found out more about Nakamura’s interest in camping trailers and coinciding project – F.I.L Indigo Camping Trailer. The conceptual retail space in Tokyo is a further progression of Visvim’s much aligned F.I.L. stores that are a fundamental component of the label. The concept of the store combines Nakamura’s interest in vintage objects and his unique approach to design, making this an unsurpassed experience for customers. I sat down with Nakamura to unearth the distinct sense of genuine character and a rare beauty that is transpired in his work.
Can you please tell us how your childhood influenced you to become a designer, where did you get your first insight into designing?
I grew up in the country side of Japan and was like any other kid, just tried to get attention from other people: my family, my friends and girls. I wanted to get attention from others so I tried to express myself in certain ways by wearing different clothing, being interested in other things such as skateboarding and playing an instrument. I was born in 1971 and despite growing up in Kofu, which is in a rural area of Japan, my parents took me travelling all over the world, a real eye opener.
When I was a kid, I loved making things by hand was really into drawing. However, wanting to do this as a profession came on much later in life. As a kid, all I knew is I wanted to work for a company that makes good products. Later, when I was 26 or 27, I thought I wanted to make something that I am really interested in and believed in. My '“fashion phase” came as a teenager but at the time I denied it was fashion, it was just cool stuff to me. I was really into vintage pieces, amongst my friends and I there was always a competition to find something cool and to get something more rare. I have always been drawn to vintage stuff so when I decided to make my own product, I began with shoes. This began my thinking process about “what is a good product?” Something that has a meaning? Something of quality? I had to define what a good product is.
Initially, I thought it was something you used that makes you happy. In my “dictionary”, that is what a good product is to me. A product that when worn is comfortable and looks good is what I want. But through production and designing, I kept developing my own definition and I wanted to make something long lasting, just like vintage clothing. So, as I worked on my definition of a “good product”, I was looking at vintage stuff. I thought “why is this so cool?”, not because it is vintage, not because it is old, not because of the designer name. There is something about it and I needed to look at what is behind it. To me that is so exciting, the reason or the meaning behind all of this. The possibility of making something that is super light and great to wear every day because it’s comfortable or lasts a long time – like 20 years.
I am still trying to find out my own definition but after 12 years I know what direction I am going in. I have discovered so many techniques and I have come across so many materials…like natural materials, that make me so happy. I believe the exterior comes from an excellent interior and everything from me. I have to be clean and crystal clear and that will reflect in the product. It is an ongoing process but I am on the path.
Can you talk about the concept of Visvim and how the brand has evolved over time to where it is now?
Again, I wanted to put all my focus on making a great product so I was in the factory most of the time in Korea for the first part of the manufacturing process. I would stay there two or three weeks at a time spending my whole time in the factory checking the whole manufacturing process. I wanted to be responsible to my customer so I had to check each and every product. I kept thinking if I was okay making that many shoes, because I was responsible to my customer. At the beginning, I thought it was fine because I was growing and learning all the time. I thought if each season I can do better and more I was doing okay. But I feel it is more than just that. I want to communicate to my customers about where I am at and in 2001, 2002 I was doing my best and pushing myself to make the product better all the time to make the customer happier. That is how the brand was and how it is now. It’s an ongoing process.
I have always been drawn to the functional side because of the idea of utility wear. At the early stages of the brand I thought about it a lot: “How can I be authentic and make an authentic product?”
How important is the balance between function and conceptual design? What are your thoughts on balancing the two?
To me a product has to be functional: it has to be comfortable but I don’t start with those elements in mind. I have to come up with the right balance. Sometimes the balance is a little more towards the look but it depends on how that product makes you happy.
The bottom line is I would like to have (for example) a comfortable show that you can wear every day versus ones where you couldn’t. My main focus is especially men’s casual and that is why my men’s fashion is largely based on things like utility wear, military, sportswear or whatever. I have always been drawn to the functional side because of the idea of utility wear.
At the beginning stage of the brand I thought about it a lot: “How can I be authentic and make an authentic product?”. That used to be the biggest question but now I’ve passed that phase. I have realised that I don’t have to be anything, I can just be who I am. I tried so hard to be authentic, but if I am trying so hard I am not being authentic. This phase passed and I became a bit more relaxed, I could accept myself and be more expressive. I think it was a more organic change.
How has your approach changed in more recent years, from an outside perception Visvim has matured a lot so how would you explain this?
I tried to be true to myself, I think this is important. I realised this very quickly after trying to be authentic after trying for so long. It’s like when you’re a teenager and you try so hard to get attention from girls, you want to be somebody but then you realise when you are being yourself all of a sudden you get a lot of attention.
So, for me I am trying to be true to myself and I believe in and appreciate natural materials, a natural process is the way forward for me because I am drawn to the organic idea. I like natural dye, handmade things and especially vintage stuff which I collect, such as cameras or cars. Everything made by hand, by humans, I am really attracted to. I can feel the personal character, it’s charming to me and this is something that I want to do with the manufacturing process today. I think on one hand the manufacturing process has completely changed since this caravan was made, everything was made by hand, but now everything is made on a production line. Everything is made exactly the same and though made by humans, they only fractionally touch the product, everything ends up looking the same…and average. I still need to work with this process because it is 2013 but I would like to put my character into the product, my goal is to put my personal touch on each piece. Before I was telling you about my philosophy but now this is how I develop the product.
How much does the market environment contribute to your design process?
I am so grateful for the support from my customers, so many have been supporting the brand since the beginning. My customer is very sophisticated and I think they know exactly what I am doing, I think I am communicating this through my product. I just need to do my best right now and share the my thought process with my clientele.
What era of design interests you the most?
The 1800’s. I have been collection items dating back to the 1750’s and what interests me the most is the pre-industrial revolution – the 1860’s to the 1880’s. Its so amazing because everything is made by hand and each piece reflects the personal feeling of the person making it. This same element of production was in Japan before the Meiji period, during the Edo period.
“as a creator I need to challenge the type of concept that has been formed, the unspoken rule or agreement that they have been building for a long time. As a creator, I want to destroy this and create something new”
You spend a lot of time in the States now, as well as Japan. How do you think this contributes to your philosophy and influence on your work?
I have been traveling a lot since my early 20’s, but I have spent most of my life travelling so for me it is very important to have the big picture and a focus on the smaller picture, to have a bird’s eye view on the world. If I focus too much on developing specific elements then I begin to lose the big picture so it’s nice to be observant so I can communicate with my team. I like the freedom you have in the States, Japan and Europe are also close to my heart. I love deep history and traditional feelings at the same time as being a creative person, I like that free feeling and getting that balance is important. Now it is important to be free and have the ability to express myself, when I was younger and I first started getting interest in vintage clothing, I just wanted to be cool.
I have a daughter, who is now seven years old and when she was three she was drawing graphics for my t-shirts. At the time she was so free, she came up with the idea of a red pepper necklace t-shirt and then she drew a horse with two heads – one going one direction and the other head going the other way. I was so amazed with her sense of freedom. I recently asked her to draw something for me, now she is a much better painter but she has gone through so many different things so I feel maybe her experiences have made her restrict her freedom. I think she is still an amazing creator, but I thought how can I make myself have the level of freedom she had when she was young.
Compared to society in Japan, how does that influence you and your approach to designing?
I like both sides about the culture in Japan, and then I think as a creator I need to challenge the type of concept that has been formed, the unspoken rule or agreement that they have been building for a long time. As a creator, I want to destroy this and create something new. It is interesting to have both perspectives and take advantage of this. In Japan, there is a really interesting culture which I think is very unique and I would like to introduce that culture internationally, I think Japanese people are drawn to the freedom that is outside Japan. I have to mix this within myself, and this is what I enjoy about having the different perspectives.
Can you please go into detail about the concept of F.I.L. Indigo Camping Trailer? How does this compare to your other retail spaces?
I came across natural dye, especially natural indigo dye when I was developing new ideas a few years ago. I think by combining this with the modern manufacturing process and technology, it has so much potential and so many possibilities to make a product with character and personality, just like in the 1950’s and 1960’s before the current modern manufacturing processes were developed. I thought I would like to spend more energy on developing and studying these methods. Because they are natural, it is almost like taking a photo with film, you can’t control it 100%, and that is the beauty, you can’t make it completely even. You actually can’t really make it even now, they spend all day trying so hard to alongside trying to compete with chemical dyes. Now everything is chemically dyed so now we want to make it more uneven and apply a human touch. What we are using is a digital camera with an old lens, mixing both. We still make authentic materials using the same method from the 1800’s as an experimental project so I can learn but the times have changed, the cost of labour is so high and I want to still make something accessible, it’s expensive but accessible. If I made a jacket from the Ainu tribe in Japan it would not be accessible. Even if someone bought it, it would not be profitable and even if it was profitable, no one would want to make it because it would take too much time and energy. So to counter this, I want to make some kind of alternative that lasts as long and is as good as an Ainu jacket. The Indigo Camping Trailer concept, with natural dye, has so many possibilities. I want to keep developing and studying so that is why I wanted to open a concept store, to continue to make experimental pieces and a product in contrast to the main collection.
This will be the only store of its type and I also want to use the fabrics I have been using for the collection, I want to give them a new life. For example, I have a collection of old American bandana’s from the 1970’s and early 80’s, only produced in the United States. I wanted to use these and inject new life by combining these with new techniques I learnt about natural dye: indigo dye, mud dye, pad dye, or cochineal dye. I think there are a lot of things we can do with natural dye that has so much power and even I am amazed by the outcome, I want to wear the product everyday.
Two elements that stand out when you think about the fit out is the use of the vintage camping trailer and the vintage wooden flooring. Why did you choose to focus on these facets for the space?
I wanted to do this store in a visible place, this is the first time I have opened a store in a shopping mall. Gyre is one of the fanciest shopping malls around and this is very far from what we have been doing until now, we have always had destination stores but I wanted to do something extremely unique in a visible place. I didn’t want to make a typical shopping mall space so I began to think how can I make the store unique. In Tokyo there were many old buildings but unfortunately the majority have now been torn down and there are a lot of new buildings. The problem of new buildings and new shopping malls is that they all look the same to me. So, I thought how could I make the space unique and authentic. I needed to bring something really authentic into the space because even if I decorate it, me actually liking it would be fake because it’s in a shopping mall. I needed to bring something authentic into the space that would then create a unique unbalanced feeling in the space. Considering the theme for Autumn/Winter 2013 “The Man With No Country II”, I had been thinking about the equivalent of a tepee in the modern world…a camping trailer. I wanted to travel in a camping trailer with my family and design the collection at the same time, and after I found a couple of really authentic trailers. I then decided to send the trailer on to Paris for our exhibition. The other trailer from the 1950’s, got sent to Tokyo for the F.I.L Indigo Camping Trailer store.The one for the store in Gyre I decided to decorate the interior with indigo dye fabric. I needed to make a very clean space with good materials throughout. The walls and ceiling are made from a natural Japanese hand plaster that absorbs the light in a really nice way. The flooring is wood from an 1860’s American furniture factory in the mid-west, it’s maple wood. We wanted to make something unique, not just a factory floor so we took the panels that were specially designed for Versailles – which became a big trend in Europe first and then the States in the early 1900’s. They produced a lot of these panels. We decided to make these panels using the maple patina woods from the factory.
For the store’s concept, I wanted it to be a small flea market, with the camping trailer in the shopping mall store front. Basically, it’s all open when we’re there, we open the trailer and take out all the products and open a small store in the shopping mall. I wanted to do something really different in this sort of setting.
You have taken away all branding for the products. Do you feel this is a conscience effort to put Visvim amongst the high-end echelons of fashion?
I really believe the beauty of the product or the beauty of people comes from inside. I don’t think it comes from the name. As a creative I wanted to express to my customer what we think is interesting, because what is cool comes from inside. Authenticity of coolness comes from inside and that is something I want to express. It is very different to what other labels are doing but we are small so we have the ability to do it.
Many people ask me if I am trying to make Visvim a luxury label, it’s not something I consider. We are probably making some product that has a similar price of a luxury brand but that at least doesn’t come first to me, I just want to make good product. Like I said before, I really believe the “coolness” of the product comes from inside so that is something I want to express. It is not my drive of motivation. I really believe it is something that it’s from the inside.
How and where did you source your materials for the garments? Where did you source your inspiration for the garments?
I have been doing Visvim for only 12 years but it is funny, there are so many people, suppliers or people from other labels that have the same mentality, share the same concept or the same belief that is it true to us. There are many suppliers I work with and they are quite similar to me, there are more and more people I start working with who share the same philosophy who work with bigger labels but they wanted to do something like what we wanted to do. I have so many supporters, I am very grateful for all the help and support that the manufacturers have given to me over the years.
I want to continue doing this as an experimental project, maybe find something other than materials, something else beautiful from the past. I would like to find other indigo dye techniques outside of Japan. I have heard about techniques from Mali which would be interesting. I recently went to Indonesia to find this beautiful textile they still make in Timor. This is all stuff I cannot do with my collection, only something on a smaller scale that I can do through this store, and to help find inspiration for the main collection.
What vision do you have for Visvim on a whole going forward from this point?
I would like to keep making good product but it is getting harder and harder, because manufacturing is always changing but I am doing my best. I don’t know how long I can carry on making Good Year Welt by hand; I even think people in China don’t want to do it. We can keep doing it but I think it will be like making an Ainu jacket now. I think as a creative, I have to keep trying my best to make the best product we possibly can.
