Fashion curator Motofumi Kogi (POGGY) has teamed up with LOWERCASE's Yoshikage Kajiwara and LOOPWHEELER's Satoshi Suzuki, a key figure behind the spread of loopwheel sweatshirts. On this occasion, the three worked together for the first time and focused on a retrofit hoodie, giving a unique spin to LOOPWHEELER fashion. We asked the three members about what went on behind the scenes of the creation of the ultimate vintage hoodie which will be available for purchase from September 3rd. 

Photographer: Ko Tsuchiya, Author: Yuki Koike, Editor: Mio Koumura

- How did the three of you cross paths?

Suzuki: I first formally met POGGY about eight years ago. I was still at UNITED ARROWS & SONS and we often discussed the idea of making a sweatshirt, but we weren't able to make any progress back then.

Kogi: Yes. Didn't you first meet Kajiwara in 2005?

Kajiwara: I used to regularly go out drinking with young BEAMS and UA employees, so that's how I met Kogi. After getting to know each other, we started drinking together every once in a while, but it was about three years ago that Kogi told me that he was going to leave UA.

Suzuki: At that time, Kajiwara and I would meet once a month, so when I asked him how POGGY was doing, I heard that he was leaving UA. I was fond of my memories with him, so Kajiwara and I would talk about creating something between the three of us when we had the time.

Kajiwara: That was the story behind the lead-up to this collaboration project. It took about a year for our plans to take shape.

An indestructible Sendagaya quality 

- All three of you are in the same field, but you all have different styles. How did working together go?

Kajiwara: Before I introduced the idea to Suzuki, I talked with Kogi about what we wanted to create, and we decided on focusing on vintage fashion, among all the other ideas Kogi had. Then Kogi wanted to add holes. However, as one quality of LOOPWHEELER clothing is that it can be worn for decades, we thought that Suzuki would dislike the idea (laughs). On top of this, if we tried to achieve a quality that Suzuki would be satisfied with through using technologies for creating vintage fashion, the final retail price would be around 100,000 yen, so this wasn't realistic. After rethinking our strategy while retaining our focus on vintage fashion, we arrived at what we have now.

Kogi: With the so-called designer archives getting more attention recently, vintage fashion is receiving more and more attention. I also buy vintage clothing myself, but the clothing back then was short in terms of length and thick.... I'm not a vintage enthusiast, so I'd like to take a modern approach to incorporating vintage fashion in my own fashion, but it's hard to do so. I've also not been going on trips overseas, so I've had the chance to take a closer look at Japan. I was extremely surprised when I came to find out about the quality of Sendagaya clothing (many passionate clothing manufacturers are based in Sendagaya, which is also where LOOPWHEELER is based). I wanted to create a piece of vintage fashion that was also of Sendagaya quality.

- Why are you looking to Japanese manufacturing now?

Kogi: Part of it may be due to the luxury street fashion movement. The fashion you see in the Begin magazine at the moment feels fresh to me at the moment and I was not very acquainted with that type of fashion.

Suzuki: Both "Begin" and "mono magazine" are a little special. In the past, "LOOPWHEELER" was rarely featured in other fashion magazines. If you were to line up pieces of denim clothing that were 5, 10, and 15 years old, you could actually see how they changed, but you can't do the same with grey speckled sweatshirts. I was once told that it would be hard to explain this in a magazine feature. There was a time when we were losing connections with editors and stylists whose main focus was fashion. I came across an editor for mono magazine when I used to think that the best type of promotion would be to give an item of clothing over to people walking in Omotesando and show them why the item was great. That was in 2004, and from that point on, product awareness gradually increased.

Kajiwara: I've written about this a lot in various places, but my generation firmly believes that the US is the leader in sweatshirts, so I wasn't interested in LOOPWHEELER at first. However, 12 years ago I received a sweatshirt from Suzuki and I was put in touch with this new world that I was previously unaware of.

Kogi: Kajiwara mentioned that he was still wearing the sweatshirt he got from Suzuki, that it still is free of holes, and that it's durable and retained its shape. He didn't agree with the idea of adding holes. By adjusting the area around the neck and paying attention to details, we have been able to add vintage details. Had the size been too large, adults would not have been able to wear it, and I also wanted to wear it under my jacket, so I created a hoodie that is one size larger than a normal size LOOPWHEELER piece.

An elegant retrofit hoodie—the product of three people working together

Suzuki: What POGGY is wearing today is the sample we based our hoodie on and I adjusted the size. We don't make retrofit hoodies in-house, so I was happy to hear that others wanted to make one.

Kogi: With this type of clothing, you'd tend to make the materials thicker or over-tweak things, but Kajiwara acts as a brake in these kinds of situations. I had not even considered black because I don't usually wear that color, but Kajiwara advised me that it would be better if I made a black version as well. 

Kajiwara: If you were to give a metaphor for Kogi, he's a musician who is liked by other musicians, or a musician who is approved of by everyone. In the context of the fashion industry, he is such an individual. Kogi is regarded highly and he holds a strong presence as a fashion icon. However, sticking to things that you like doesn't garner attention (laughs). With this hoodie, we had ideas such as changing the color of the lining or having a color scheme for the pockets, but we decided on focusing on the marketability of the product. As a result, we decided on having the hoodie in two colors: a color strongly associated with vintage fashion and also black. Normally, if we were to have the strings in a vintage color, we would make them white, but we decided to go with black. By having them black, the hoodie is given some versatility.   

- I see. So why were you interested in retrofit hoodies in the first place, POGGY?

Kogi: I simply adore them. They simply represent vintage hoodies.

Suzuki: I think that retrofit hoodies were born in a time of trial and error. A hood was added to a sweater to combat the cold. However, doing so is difficult, and looking at the technology available at the time, the seams were very weak. There are a lot of retrofit hoodies that have fallen apart due to the simple stitching. At the time, the Kangaroo pocket did not exist, but there were patch pockets. Also, there were gussets instead of elastic rib cuffing. These are the features that we see in hoodies back then.  

Kajiwara: The flat seams around the armpit areas are also really nice.At the product launch exhibition this year, a sweater which used Indian Suvin Gold thread was the center of attention. It was so elegant that I thought that if Hermes were to make a sweater, that would be it.​The sewing was extremely intricate too.

Suzuki: You need to have the appropriate technology for flat seams, so you wouldn't normally be able to sew this nicely. If you wanted to tell good factories apart from other factories, you would look at how well they do this. If the basic backbone of clothes is manufactured properly, you'll be able to see a difference over the many times that you wash the clothes. 

Kogi: When Suzuki was receiving orders from various brands as an OEM, a Japanese golf brand apparently became interested in the fabric knitted by the loopwheel knitting machine Suzuki was using. Golf courses are a place where you have to dress properly, but they wondered if they could make sweatshirt through the same technology since the end product is casual but elegant. That ended in a lot of success, didn't it?

Suzuki: In the 90's, I was a Furiya (someone who handles custom manufacturing orders). POGGY asks me why I get along so well with people in the street, but all I do is stay neutral. I'm a creator so I take whatever work I can. My job when I was in my thirties was to produce the requested quality within the specified cost.

Making things that will be around in 30 years' time

- In the 90's, Suzuki also worked on Ura-Harajuku brand sweatshirts, right?

Suzuki: At the time, we were able to make a living because of the golf brand and Ura-Harajukubrands were booming. HEAD PORTER treated me the best. I also like the fabric that is produced with the loopwheel knitting machine, so I recommended the fabric to people working for Ura-Harajuku brands. But in reality, we couldn't deliver the fabric that quickly. It takes time to make, meaning it'd take 4-5 months for a customer to get more fabric after they sell out. Unless someone has the machine running all of the time, we can't fulfil orders quickly, so that's the biggest reason that a loopwheel business would peter out. At the time, the golf brand started working with us all year round. The golf brand is still growing a lot, but it is that growth back then that kept our machines running.

Kogi: In recent years, archives from the 90's to the early 2000's of street brands such as Supreme and Undercover have been booming, but it is because of people like Suzuki that the clothes are still around. I'm very happy to be able to make things with such people. Isn't it possible that what we made this time will be around after 30 years?

- Finally, how was the experience of working together and making things between the three of you for the first time?

Kogi: I was reminded from working with Kajiwara and Suzuki that there are now many excellent designers in their 20's coming out of Japan too and that I have to support young brands. I would like to share the treatment I have received from my seniors with the younger generation.

Suzuki: I also learned something too, and it's that I too have room to grow. At this age, I don't get told off, so I think it's really valuable to have the opportunity to learn at work.

Kajiwara: I until now hadn't tried to have Suzuki make my own ideas a reality. This is because I thought it was meaningless unless it was an extension of LOOPWHEELER's manufacturing. On this occasion too, there was an existing base idea, and I only added to it a little. Suzuki made it a reality, and I'm just here to comment on how it feels wearing it. Thanks to Kogi's ideas and Suzuki's ability of turning ideas into reality, I was able to make what I wanted to wear.

Suzuki: You have to make what you want to wear, right? It would be great if someday we could have Kajiwara and POGGY make something that they really want exactly how they want it, instead of making something that looks LOOPWHEELER-like, and selling it at our store. 

Kogi: I had given up on adding holes to LOOPWHEELER fashion, but I might still have a chance yet! (laughs)

LOOPWHEELER x LOWERCASE x POGGYTHEMAN

Price: ¥ 23,100 (tax included)
Sizes: S / M / L / XL (Oatmeal) / M / L / XL (Black)
Release date: September 3rd (Friday)
Available at UNITED ARROWS & SONS, UNITED ARROWS & SONS ONLINE STORE (Oatmeal), Adam et Rope Homme branches (Black)