Pursuing the creations of something original free from established ideas
The Japanese fashion brand “spoken words project” has a reputation for its clothes made uniquely with hand-dyed or hand-printed technique. Masahiro Tobita, who has nurtured the brand, is currently involved in a wide range of activities surpassing the fashion field such as stage costume design, scenography, and textile design as well as creating clothing. Tobita’s “spoken words project” teamed up with Kokka to create a new textile brand named “3min.” which made a cool debut in June, 2016. Here is an extensive interview with Tobita who is pursuing something new. This will show you what is behind his design work.
Kokka-fabric.com (KF): What type of boy were you when you were young?
I always wanted to do something different from the others, and I was really competitive. My everyday clothes were made by my mother who had studied at Bunka Fashion College, Japan’s leading fashion school. Indeed, I wore them delightedly.
In my junior high years, I got interested in fashion. I frequented secondhand clothes shops in Harajuku. There had been many thrift stores in Harajuku area until DC (Designer Character) brand boom arose in ‘80s when I was in high school.
I had wished to go to a high school with design department, but it was located outside of my school district. Eventually I entered a regular high school in compliance with my father who was a strictly traditional Japanese male.
(pic: This woodblock print is Tobita’s art project in his junior high years titled “Portrait of My Friend”)
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