Despite any pre-concieved notions you may have, visvim has been around much longer than just the past few years. Thanks to the likes of Kanye, A$AP Rocky and John Mayer, awareness of the Japanese brand's presence has risen in the mainstream consciousness. But the relatively small business has been around for over a decade consistently churning out what creator Hiorki Nakamura designates and perceives simply as "good product." Operating with such noble and honest intentions within the fickle nature of the menswear/streetwear worlds is quite a feat. But when you're good, you're good.
Visvim doesn't have a lot of secrets, especially since Hiroki is uniquely open to speaking with any and everyone who exhibits interest in his brand. However, when visvim is compared to some of the Ura-Hara era brands of the '90s, a movement anchored by favorites like Bathing Ape and Fragment Design, you definitely want to learn all there is to know. Here's your chance to delve into some unfamiliar territory about the 12-year-old brand that's one of the hottest labels today. These are 15 Things You Didn't Know About visvim.
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As a teenager growing up in Tokyo, Nakamura used to travel to the U.S. to search for vintage Levi's.
Nakamura worked as a designer at Burton Snowboards for eight years before venturing off to start visvim.
The word "visvim" has no meaning.
visvim's most popular shoe model, the FBT, is named after the short-lived English New Wave pop band, Fun Boy Three.
The inspiration for the FOLK series came from an elderly Sami tribeswoman who made Nakamura a pair of reindeer-hide boots.
The Christo Sandal is inspired by the "wrappings" of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
The strings used to stitch the hides together for the FW12 teepee were tanned using buffalo brains.
The tiny cross used throughout the FW13 collection is based on the "+" symbol always found in artist Joseph Beuys' signature.
Nakamura claims to never wear socks because he wants to feel the materials of the shoe on his skin.
visvim often crushes up a beetle-like insect, the Cochineal, to create a dye.
Nakamura has gone on record to say he doesn't care where his pieces are produced, as long as they're made well.
visvim's new women's line, WMV, is designed by Nakamura's wife, Kelsi.
visvim's FW13 Exploratory Robe is made of tree bark.
Union Los Angeles and Chris Gibbs are planning on bringing the world-renowned, VIP-only visvim trunk show to New York sometime in 2014.
