Neighborhood's creative director, Shin Takizawa, recently sat down with Union L.A. for an interesting chat. The man behind the awesome Japanese brand talks about the changes he's seen with Neighborhood, the spring/summer 2013 collection, American culture, his showroom, and even his ideal motorcycle adventure. Read on below.
On changes he's seen with the brand:
"Surprisingly, all the design concepts, ideas, and inspirations are really based on what it was 18 years ago… it remains the same and true to what we began with. What has changed is more on the production side. I think there are more techniques involved in the production of products and the quality is much better than it ever was."
On the spring/summer 2013 collection:
"We use to give a name and theme to each season’s collection, however we decided to stop doing that last year because it felt that by titling the collection we were simply chasing the trends that were happening at the time. What Neighborhood has always been inspired by is the classic culture of America. Whether that is in work wear or bike wear, as long as we have that as our foundation, it allows us to remain close to what we stand for and has helped us stay on track for the past 18 years. I think we stay true to the basics of what we stand for in this way. So when you ask what inspires us, it has a lot to do with how to bring out the “American-ness” in each and every collection."
On his ideal motorcycle adventure:
"In real life though, I would like to one-day ride in the Cannonball Endurance Rally. It’s a month long, U.S. cross-country motorcycle race that starts on the east coast and ends on the west. All riders have to ride bikes that were made pre-1930. What attract me to these rides are the feeling of freedom it offers and a sense of free time."
Check out the rest of the interview here.
[via union los angeles]
