Series: Taishi Nobukuni | Part 12: Why Ride a Bicycle Wearing Tweed?
Series | Taishi Nobukuni
The Future That Lost Its Way at the End of Easy Dress-Down
Part 12: Why Ride a Bicycle in Tweed?
A limited-time shop for "TWEED RUN," where people ride bicycles dressed in tweed, has opened at "WILD LIFE TAILOR," where I oversee the suit line. When I asked the organizer, Ted, about it, he mentioned that all his friends are passionate about 1920s attire.
By Taishi Nobukuni
Rediscovering the Freedom of Dressing Up, Inspired by a London Movement
Why ride a bicycle in tweed? This London movement is a style, a fashion, but I believe it's fundamentally a revival of manners.
It's not just about conforming to a dress code or being able to go to work in a suit. Proper attire means the wearer genuinely enjoys dressing up. It's a style that conveys the sentiment, 'I'll wear what I love because I'm meeting someone important.' I sense that spirit in them as they ride their classic bicycles with such personal flair.
When I was a teenager, there was a shop in London called "Blacks." I was thrilled to hear they dressed in 1930s style, but also amazed at how peculiar they seemed. Now, through "TWEED RUN," I've learned that a new generation is embracing a similar aesthetic. This brings me not just nostalgia, but a sense of freshness and even a glimpse of the future. The future that seemed lost at the end of easy dress-down now appears, glimpsed through the act of dressing up.
Fashion always seems to repeat itself, but I felt a similar sense of the future in John Galliano's triumphant return to Paris, with his hoop skirts and elegant tailoring. At the time, he said, 'Dress-down is over. We must use past styles as a springboard to build a future of structured, sexy dress-up.' The shock of that moment truly propelled me onto the Eurostar to Paris.
At the time, his work felt profoundly meaningful, and I approached him wanting to help in any way I could, no matter how small. In today's fashion world, which has become so casual, and in this era of economic hardship, I feel that same impulse more strongly than ever. Meeting Ted and his circle this time has reaffirmed that this feeling is at the core of who I am.
There are ways to wear a T-shirt, like tucking in the hem or rolling up the sleeves. But there are dozens of ways to tie a tie. Which is more individual, which is freer? I intend to propose this kind of freedom in dressing from now on.
Speaking of which, I might be getting a windowpane suit tailored soon.
Japan's Sole Limited Shop
"TWEED RUN GENERAL STORE"
WILD LIFE TAILOR
1-32-12 Ebisu-Nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 03-5728-6320
http://blog.jun.co.jp/adametrope/101696/