Japan is a key market for us because successfully meeting the demands of Japanese consumers – who are highly fashion-conscious and particular about quality – ensures positive results on an international level. With archives from the past, current-day collections, and private items that belonged to Bob Lee himself, this commemorative exhibition is intended to share with Japan the brand’s story that commenced when Mr. Lee, originally an adventurer, developed new safari gear needed to trek around the globe. We at HUNTING WORLD are planning to deliver fresh ideas to enable brand enthusiasts to enjoy the outdoor life, not only with our bag products, but also through our lifestyle items as well.

This commemorative exhibition focuses on our founder Bob Lee and we hope visitors will gain an idea about the concept of HUNTING WORLD through Mr. Lee’s personality. When I first met Bob Lee around 30 years ago, he was already talking about environmental issues and the coexistence of mankind and wildlife. Looking back, I think he had extremely forward-thinking ideas, and in terms of business, he was sharp-minded and would pursue excellence in everything. Mr. Lee’s philosophy is what contributes to the strong support that we enjoy even 50 years after our establishment. We hope to make further progress by using this 50th anniversary celebration as our launching point for the next 50 years.

When planning this exhibition, I took the underlying keywords for HUNTING WORLD’s 50th anniversary – “Authentic,” “Identity,” and “Sophisticate” – and arranged three rooms that represent Bob Lee’s messages to the future. Entering from the “Authentic” themed Room 1, it portrays Mr. Lee through the vehicle of his invaluable snapshots and archives. The concept for Room 2 was “Identity”; this room encapsulates the brand’s longstanding spirit and its message for the upcoming 50 years by jointly showcasing BATTUE products, which serve as the foundation for HUNTING WORLD, together with items designed by groovisions and SOMA DESIGN. Room 3, where we set “Sophisticate” as the theme, displays HUNTING WORLD’s wide range of collaborative items going beyond the boundaries of brands. In this way, the room illustrates Mr. Lee’s generosity and appreciation of quality products, in addition to his refined aesthetic taste. This exhibition is an excellent opportunity to showcase our newly designed items and to get HUNTING WORLD’s philosophy across to a younger generation. And for those of us inside the brand, this experience has been extremely enlightening and motivating for us as well.

As I looked through past archives to prepare for this collaboration, I gained awareness of HUNTING WORLD’s excellence in quality, their hard-wearing materials, and above all, their unwavering strength as a brand. Instead of adding on, I pictured my ideal bag as if I were to have one, and engaged in the designing process by omitting unneeded elements. I pursued a modern design while blending a playful touch – my work offers a lining that would give a pleasant surprise when you zip open its fastener. I worked with an Italy-based factory for this project, and it was an interesting experience to create something in line with their rules.

This was a fantastic exhibition that well-presented the history and story of HUNTING WORLD, a brand founded by adventurer Bob Lee. Maintaining a long-term following is an extremely challenging issue for brands; once you lose the momentum to drive forward, you will fall behind in competition before knowing it. HUNTING WORLD, meanwhile, has made steady efforts to scale up their value as a brand. Their products are sophisticated in terms of form, color, and many other aspects, and they also offer a modern feel, which is why I have been hoping that they make a foray into high fashion. Being the organizer for Pitti Uomo, I am therefore delighted that they joined the event.

We commonly see HUNTING WORLD as a bag manufacturer, but the concept for this commemorative exhibition was to illustrate the unique history of the brand established by adventurer Bob Lee. HUNTING WORLD has always been conscious about “Authentic”; taking advantage of the brand’s 50th anniversary, we thought about what goods Mr. Lee would put on display today and outputted a variety of collaborative products. This year the brand also took part in Pitti Uomo, Liberty, and other European/U.S. exhibitions too. By diversifying sales channels in an up-to-date manner, we hope to increasingly provide our clients opportunities to experience Bob Lee’s philosophy.