Kubo has always pursued patterns and details never before seen, and in recent years, as he looked back on his roots, he has come face to face with Japan itself. This is the Japan he discovered that remains burned into his mind. How did he sublimate this into "yoshiokubo"? Let's unravel the story. (Planning, interviews, and writing by Matsushita Yaro)
Yoshio Kubo digitally streamed the 22SS collection shoot for his brand "yoshiokubo" at Paris Fashion Week. This was his third time doing so since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The location for the shoot was Hounji Temple on Mt. Koei in Hiroo, Tokyo. It is a quiet Nichiren sect temple located behind Prime Square in Ebisu. This was made possible with the cooperation of the head priest, Joki Komatsu.
Nichiren Buddhist sutras are known for their fast tempo and intensity. Depending on how you listen to it, they sound like rap. That's why Kubo sought out a Nichiren Buddhist temple. The element of music is closely related to fashion, and temple culture embodies Japan and harmony, which he has been obsessed with for the past few years. There couldn't be a better situation for a shoot.
Over the past few years, his interest in Japanese things has grown, and he has begun to incorporate them into his own collections. "I guess it was after I went to Paris that I started to wonder what my brand even was." He felt the need to find an answer to the question from the fashion world: Who are you?
What is individuality? In order to pursue this, he went back to his childhood. Memories of his childhood in Osaka shaped who he is. People are made up of the water, air, and soil of the place where they grow up, and they learn and acquire much from playing enthusiastically with friends. "I used to play things like bettan (menko), and go to the candy store and buy snacks."
A few years ago, Kubo visited his childhood home in Neyagawa City, Osaka, which is now vacant. "It was a rundown cultural housing complex, and even my wife, who went with me, walked in with her shoes on (laughs)." It was about 40 years ago, so his memory is hazy, but one thing he does remember is a tairyo-bata (large fishing flag). He remembers a picture of a tairyo-bata (large fishing flag) being used to wrap bedding and other items, tied tightly like a furoshiki (cloth). Kubo's grandfather was a fisherman in Owase City, facing the Kumano Nada Sea in southern Mie Prefecture. His mother had been using one of his grandfather's tairyo-bata flags, which he no longer needed.
Those memories inspired a collection that was uniquely Japanese and personal. Kubo's personal history belongs to no one but Kubo. He believes that true originality has universal value, and he reflected this in his Spring/Summer 2020 collection.
The collection, which was embodied in this idea, was shown on a boat on the Seine before an exhibition in Paris in June 2019. It was a VR (virtual reality) movie made in Japan and shot on the coast of Chiba Prefecture.
Putting on the VR headset, a 360-degree panorama unfolds before your eyes, with a model walking on a rustic pier. The sound of the waves and the slight swaying of the waves are synchronized with the content of the video, creating a great effect. "I thought that if a newcomer like me wanted to catch the attention of the press and buyers, I had to do something like this," said Kubo. It also served as a proposal for a new way of presenting things in the digital age.
The pursuit of patterns and details never before seen is always on Kubo's mind. Rather than looking at it in the context of Western clothing culture, his recent collections are the result of him starting with his own personal history, then researching it himself, and then seeking out the culture of Japan, a country he has become interested in. Rather than replicating or reproducing, he sees his job as sublimating it in his own way and presenting it as something new. "It made me realize that even at my age, I still don't know anything about Japan, and it prompted me to look into it in more detail."
For the past few collections, he has looked back at the core parts that make up his personality and pursued something that is uniquely his own. "When I look at other brands that go overseas like us, they don't do anything like that, so I thought it would be interesting." In addition to mixing Japanese elements with sports, he pursues interesting designs with prints and switching.
Yoshio Kubo digitally streamed the 22SS collection shoot for his brand "yoshiokubo" at Paris Fashion Week. This was his third time doing so since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The location for the shoot was Hounji Temple on Mt. Koei in Hiroo, Tokyo. It is a quiet Nichiren sect temple located behind Prime Square in Ebisu. This was made possible with the cooperation of the head priest, Joki Komatsu.
Nichiren Buddhist sutras are known for their fast tempo and intensity. Depending on how you listen to it, they sound like rap. That's why Kubo sought out a Nichiren Buddhist temple. The element of music is closely related to fashion, and temple culture embodies Japan and harmony, which he has been obsessed with for the past few years. There couldn't be a better situation for a shoot.
Over the past few years, his interest in Japanese things has grown, and he has begun to incorporate them into his own collections. "I guess it was after I went to Paris that I started to wonder what my brand even was." He felt the need to find an answer to the question from the fashion world: Who are you?
What is individuality? In order to pursue this, he went back to his childhood. Memories of his childhood in Osaka shaped who he is. People are made up of the water, air, and soil of the place where they grow up, and they learn and acquire much from playing enthusiastically with friends. "I used to play things like bettan (menko), and go to the candy store and buy snacks."
A few years ago, Kubo visited his childhood home in Neyagawa City, Osaka, which is now vacant. "It was a rundown cultural housing complex, and even my wife, who went with me, walked in with her shoes on (laughs)." It was about 40 years ago, so his memory is hazy, but one thing he does remember is a tairyo-bata (large fishing flag). He remembers a picture of a tairyo-bata (large fishing flag) being used to wrap bedding and other items, tied tightly like a furoshiki (cloth). Kubo's grandfather was a fisherman in Owase City, facing the Kumano Nada Sea in southern Mie Prefecture. His mother had been using one of his grandfather's tairyo-bata flags, which he no longer needed.
Those memories inspired a collection that was uniquely Japanese and personal. Kubo's personal history belongs to no one but Kubo. He believes that true originality has universal value, and he reflected this in his Spring/Summer 2020 collection.
The collection, which was embodied in this idea, was shown on a boat on the Seine before an exhibition in Paris in June 2019. It was a VR (virtual reality) movie made in Japan and shot on the coast of Chiba Prefecture.
Putting on the VR headset, a 360-degree panorama unfolds before your eyes, with a model walking on a rustic pier. The sound of the waves and the slight swaying of the waves are synchronized with the content of the video, creating a great effect. "I thought that if a newcomer like me wanted to catch the attention of the press and buyers, I had to do something like this," said Kubo. It also served as a proposal for a new way of presenting things in the digital age.
The pursuit of patterns and details never before seen is always on Kubo's mind. Rather than looking at it in the context of Western clothing culture, his recent collections are the result of him starting with his own personal history, then researching it himself, and then seeking out the culture of Japan, a country he has become interested in. Rather than replicating or reproducing, he sees his job as sublimating it in his own way and presenting it as something new. "It made me realize that even at my age, I still don't know anything about Japan, and it prompted me to look into it in more detail."
For the past few collections, he has looked back at the core parts that make up his personality and pursued something that is uniquely his own. "When I look at other brands that go overseas like us, they don't do anything like that, so I thought it would be interesting." In addition to mixing Japanese elements with sports, he pursues interesting designs with prints and switching.