"Yoshiokubo" is a product that embodies Yoshio Kubo's philosophy and identity: "Not following someone else's footsteps, but creating something never before seen." Let's follow Yoshio Kubo's footsteps as he created this. (Planning, interviews, and writing by Yaro Matsushita)
After graduating from school in Philadelphia, USA, I worked in the atelier of Robert Dence, a New York haute couture designer, from 1999 to 2007. While I was in the US, I experienced a lot, such as the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2011 and bumping into actress Meg Ryan the moment I got out of a taxi on the way back from the fabric store (lol).
What led me to New York was that an acquaintance of Robert's came to a show held at a school in Philadelphia. I heard that he could introduce me to him, so I drove over to meet him with my portfolio, and he offered me to come the next week! I went there only on Saturdays for about a month, and then I moved to New York and started working there.
Since I was called an assistant designer, I thought I'd be supporting his designs, as the name suggests, but I was wrong. In reality, I was just a handyman. I lied and tried to do the grading*, which I couldn't do, but his clothes were so incredibly complicated that there was no way an amateur like me could do it. I eventually got the hang of it, but in the end, at first I was just cutting from morning to night, and when I did go out, I would make deliveries to department stores or pick up fabric from fabric stores, so I was a "super handyman." I was truly an apprentice.
Once, I had a delivery deadline for a client in Washington, D.C., and after preparing to send it, I accidentally forgot to hand it over to the shipping company, so I went to deliver it myself by Amtrak (train). It was my mistake, but the buyer was so impressed that I realized how important even a simple delivery job is.
In terms of design, I was gradually given the opportunity to work on paper graphics for promotional materials such as Christmas cards. One time, I was really impressed.
We had some pink paper left over, so Robert asked me, "Yoshio, can you do something with this?" So I wrote "Merry Christmas" on a card, cut it into jagged pieces down the middle, and sent each half to a customer, about a week apart. The customers who received the first card were confused, but a week later they understood the meaning. It was a fun outlet, even though I wasn't involved in pure clothing design.
There were about 10 seamstresses in the atelier, and one of my jobs was to look after them. They were of all different nationalities, including Korean, Russian, and Romanian. Mood is important when sewing, and if you're in a good mood you can work faster and sew better. If you're in a bad mood, the opposite happens.
The music played in the atelier is mostly selected by the president, but the seamstresses get bored if they have to listen to the same thing all the time. If it's music they don't like, it reduces their efficiency. That said, playing Russian music doesn't make the Koreans happy, and vice versa, so it's quite difficult. It was also an important part of my job to make sure the seamstresses were in a good mood while sewing. I wasn't a mood maker, but it was an important job to keep the atmosphere lively.
Looking back, I think the various things I did as an apprentice in New York have been useful in running my current company and brand, such as creating a good atmosphere in the company and the importance of meeting deadlines.
I worked every day from 9am to around 10pm, and towards the end I was also entrusted with things like dress grading, and by that time I was able to do most of it just by looking at the customer's measurements. I lived like a hard worker, but of course I also had time off. In my next post, I'll write about what I did in New York in my private time outside of work.
*Grading: Creating patterns of different sizes based on the original size pattern. In order to make clothes of all sizes exactly the same, they must be exactly the same size as the original size pattern.
After graduating from school in Philadelphia, USA, I worked in the atelier of Robert Dence, a New York haute couture designer, from 1999 to 2007. While I was in the US, I experienced a lot, such as the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2011 and bumping into actress Meg Ryan the moment I got out of a taxi on the way back from the fabric store (lol).
What led me to New York was that an acquaintance of Robert's came to a show held at a school in Philadelphia. I heard that he could introduce me to him, so I drove over to meet him with my portfolio, and he offered me to come the next week! I went there only on Saturdays for about a month, and then I moved to New York and started working there.
Since I was called an assistant designer, I thought I'd be supporting his designs, as the name suggests, but I was wrong. In reality, I was just a handyman. I lied and tried to do the grading*, which I couldn't do, but his clothes were so incredibly complicated that there was no way an amateur like me could do it. I eventually got the hang of it, but in the end, at first I was just cutting from morning to night, and when I did go out, I would make deliveries to department stores or pick up fabric from fabric stores, so I was a "super handyman." I was truly an apprentice.
Once, I had a delivery deadline for a client in Washington, D.C., and after preparing to send it, I accidentally forgot to hand it over to the shipping company, so I went to deliver it myself by Amtrak (train). It was my mistake, but the buyer was so impressed that I realized how important even a simple delivery job is.
In terms of design, I was gradually given the opportunity to work on paper graphics for promotional materials such as Christmas cards. One time, I was really impressed.
We had some pink paper left over, so Robert asked me, "Yoshio, can you do something with this?" So I wrote "Merry Christmas" on a card, cut it into jagged pieces down the middle, and sent each half to a customer, about a week apart. The customers who received the first card were confused, but a week later they understood the meaning. It was a fun outlet, even though I wasn't involved in pure clothing design.
There were about 10 seamstresses in the atelier, and one of my jobs was to look after them. They were of all different nationalities, including Korean, Russian, and Romanian. Mood is important when sewing, and if you're in a good mood you can work faster and sew better. If you're in a bad mood, the opposite happens.
The music played in the atelier is mostly selected by the president, but the seamstresses get bored if they have to listen to the same thing all the time. If it's music they don't like, it reduces their efficiency. That said, playing Russian music doesn't make the Koreans happy, and vice versa, so it's quite difficult. It was also an important part of my job to make sure the seamstresses were in a good mood while sewing. I wasn't a mood maker, but it was an important job to keep the atmosphere lively.
Looking back, I think the various things I did as an apprentice in New York have been useful in running my current company and brand, such as creating a good atmosphere in the company and the importance of meeting deadlines.
I worked every day from 9am to around 10pm, and towards the end I was also entrusted with things like dress grading, and by that time I was able to do most of it just by looking at the customer's measurements. I lived like a hard worker, but of course I also had time off. In my next post, I'll write about what I did in New York in my private time outside of work.
*Grading: Creating patterns of different sizes based on the original size pattern. In order to make clothes of all sizes exactly the same, they must be exactly the same size as the original size pattern.