{"id":20415,"date":"2025-03-14T18:10:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T09:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rakutenfashionweektokyo.com\/en\/?post_type=interview&p=20415"},"modified":"2025-03-17T11:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T02:54:09","slug":"hideo-yoshii_souta-yamaguchi_2025aw","status":"publish","type":"interview","link":"https:\/\/rakutenfashionweektokyo.com\/en\/topics\/interview\/hideo-yoshii_souta-yamaguchi_2025aw\/","title":{"rendered":"HIDESIGN Hideo Yoshii \/ Souta Yamaguchi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HIDESIGN is an experimental brand launched in 2022 that aims to elevate the technologies and methods cultivated by Hidesign Corporation, a company that specializes in corporate uniforms, into the realm of fashion. The brand\u2019s wearable collections, born out of a focus on functionality designed to withstand extreme conditions, have garnered attention both domestically and internationally. During the fast-approaching Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO 2025AW, HIDESIGN will showcase its latest collection in an installation-style presentation on March 21. We spoke to chief designer Hideo Yoshii and brand director Souta Yamaguchi about recent developments at HIDESIGN.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\n

HIDESIGN participated in Rakuten Fashion Week for the first time during the 23SS season. Two and a half years have passed since then\u2014can you tell us about your current approach to designing and producing clothes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yoshii: <\/b>The design team at HIDESIGN thinks like a uniform maker, approaching the selection of materials and the design of forms by considering the kinds of environments where such clothes will be worn. These designs are then melded with the creative direction of Yamaguchi\u2014this is how HIDESIGN comes to life as a fashion brand. My sense is that through this collaboration with Yamaguchi, our process has become increasingly unique and interesting.

\nYamaguchi: <\/b>I define work uniforms as garments that are created in response to the relationship between the expected environment and the human body. This understanding guides me as I consider what sorts of environments and physical characteristics HIDESIGN should engage with and address in the present moment, and this is how I propose a concept or theme for the season. Yoshii\u2019s design team then drafts designs based on the theme, and after multiple rounds of adjustments to the data and patterns, we produce toiles, or prototypes, that go through several stages of refinement before finally arriving at the finished products. When refining the designs, we place more importance on conveying the brand\u2019s essence rather than a marketing perspective.\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n

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In your view, Yamaguchi, what makes HIDESIGN the brand that it is?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yamaguchi: <\/b>Conventional fashion brands typically begin their design process from the outside\u2014say, a particular shape or color, or maybe a style that is trendy in the moment. At HIDESIGN, we approach our garments structurally, from the inside out. For the 25AW collection, we focused on the relationship between \u201ctemperature\u201d and \u201cmaterial.\u201d I think the fact that our garments have been designed as devices that can enhance this relationship, undergoing many tests until our goal metrics are met, is what makes them uniquely HIDESIGN.\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n

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How has the market responded to this distinctive approach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yoshii: <\/b>We participated in PITTI UOMO this January for the first time, where we received interest from major stores and showrooms with global presences, so it seems that our work is reaching an international audience and gaining traction. We held an installation at PITTI as well, presenting our philosophy and approach to making both through visual displays and with models. People were especially excited and surprised to witness our clothing transform before their eyes.

\nYamaguchi: <\/b>We received very positive feedback from buyers, with some renowned buyers spending an extended period of time trying on our pieces. On the other hand, we have not yet been able to establish a stable supply chain for the products we developed and presented there. This is an issue we need to address\u2014we must work on creating a system that allows for smoother growth of the wholesale business.

\nYoshii: <\/b>The kinds of clothes we want to make involve many new challenges, and so their development can take a long time. The question of how to present HIDESIGN\u2019s collections every six months, in line with the cycle of the fashion industry, is one we are currently still working to answer.

\nYamaguchi: <\/b>I think of our collections as presenting something like a concept model. On the one hand, as a uniform company, we produce uniforms for tens and hundreds of thousands of people, yet we are also looking to bridge this with the realm of fashion\u2014the creation of something one-of-a-kind. Though we call them \u201ccollections,\u201d ideally, our designs will reach end-users\u2014that is, fashion lovers\u2014as something like the synthesis of our research and exploration. From a business perspective, we don\u2019t plan to pursue large-scale wholesale immediately; we would like to sell through specific vendors we can form partnerships with, in addition to our own e-commerce site that we plan to launch around August.\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n

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Can you tell us more about the theme of the 25AW collection you will be presenting soon?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yoshii: <\/b>The concept is \u201cAll Zone\u201d\u2014it is a vision for fashion that can adapt to the changes in temperature that will accompany climate change. The collection focuses on how a single piece of clothing can accommodate both the heat and the cold to maintain the wearer\u2019s comfort. More specifically, these garments can adapt to temperatures ranging from -20 to 40\u00b0C and have been engineered with particular focus on the structural components that directly touch skin.

\nYamaguchi: <\/b>In anticipation of a future where temperatures over 40\u00b0C become the norm, we focused on incorporating fans, increasingly seen as a key topic for the work uniform industry, in our designs. We are working to develop clothes that are comfortable and cooling by considering factors like the surface between the fabric and the skin, or by minimizing the number of points where the material and skin directly touch in order to optimize the airflow created by a fan. Clothing equipped with fans is gradually emerging in the fashion market, but most are simply garments with fans attached. In terms of their actual functionality, they fall far short of our standards.\n

\nPersonally, I\u2019m interested in creating clothes that look just like other clothes but in fact conceal an entirely different function, an entirely different value. Fashion depends too much purely on the visual\u2014this is at the root of many discrepancies. For example, the clothes that young people work so hard to buy\u2014the clothes they think are cool\u2014have often been and seem to remain quite uncomfortable or difficult to wear. However, this is often an intentional, core aspect of the brand\u2019s identity; rather, the designs quite simply stand to be improved. HIDESIGN is interested not only in the visual aspects of design but also in the elements of wonder and ease that are possible through actual use.\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n