♪3 PUNK ROCK LIFE
Fashion
May 20, 2015

♪3 PUNK ROCK LIFE


Tokyo - Paris - London




© Sex&Seditionaries


The Spirit of the Punk Movement



—And so, Mr. Shimazu moved to Tokyo and got a job, is that right?

ShimazuI moved to Tokyo and worked as a bartender at a shop in front of Shibuya Station. I actually wanted to work at Lunch Market, but I was impressed by the graphics of Mr. Hiroshi Manabe of DO! FAMILY (leader of MU, who did jacket designs for Happy End and Eiichi Ohtaki) that I saw in Harajuku. I called the company and started with a job like a sales assistant. I worked there from when I was 19 until I was 21. I saved about 2 million yen in three years.


Yoshiyuki Shimazu × OPENERS

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—And then to London?

ShimazuFrom '81, it was Paris. It's still the same now, but music was in London, and when you came to Tokyo, there was so much information about London. Including fashion. I considered London, but I wanted to go to various places in Europe, and from Paris, Morocco, Greece, Italy, and Spain were all close. So I went to Paris, immediately crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco and Tunisia, returned to Paris, and then traveled to Italy. I stayed in Paris until '86, selecting music for shows and helping with work for London brands.


Yoshiyuki Shimazu × OPENERS

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—So you did go to London after all.

ShimazuI was looking forward to going to London. Although I never lived there. Of course, I went to the shop at 430 King's Road. I was so moved. Seeing the clock that rotated counter-clockwise, with the words 'I have a kind of in-built clock which always reacts against anything orthodox.'



Yoshiyuki Shimazu × OPENERS

© Sex&Seditionaries


© Sex&Seditionaries



—Did you like Paris?

ShimazuHonestly, it was tough because there was no music in Paris. But if I hadn't been in Paris, I probably wouldn't have become a stylist. Through the womenswear I saw in Paris, I learned about elegance. In the latter half of my time in Paris, Martin Margiela emerged, and Paris is truly the center for designers' activities. But to be honest, I still regret not living in London... (laughs).

Yoshiyuki Shimazu × OPENERS

© Sex&Seditionaries


—You didn't consider continuing with music?

ShimazuAfter returning from Paris, around '86 or '87, I was in a band called Paris at Pitecanthropus in Harajuku. When I came back from Paris, I had only clothes or music left, and I was wondering what to do, but music requires technique, doesn't it? There were many skilled people around me. So I moved into fashion.




Yoshiyuki Shimazu × OPENERS

© Sex&Seditionaries


—Of course, you liked clothes too, right?

ShimazuMr. Hata, who was the editor-in-chief of 'anan' at the time, requested 'I want to do cute boys,' and it became the era of 'big collars' with suits from DC (Designer Character) boom brands. We featured Comme des Garçons and others in 'Popeye.'



—I see.

ShimazuThe reason I like the 80s is because of the excess. The waste in design, the excessive number of patterns, the lack of functionality – it's beautiful. Of course, looking back now, it seems uncool, but with punk, music came before fashion, didn't it? That's what's good. It's good that it wasn't just a little essence added. The spirit of the punk movement has been passed down from 'Comme des Garçons' to 'UNDERCOVER,' but punk is significant in the history of fashion. It's a bit scary to think about what would have happened if this element had been missing.

© Sex&Seditionaries


—Thank you for your time. It started with 'Sex & Seditionaries' and turned into your life story, Mr. Shimazu.

ShimazuBut I'm happy I was able to live in that era. I don't really remember what I wore after the 90s. Does men's fashion stagnate without icons? Or is it my age? Is the era itself becoming idol-like now? There are various trends, but perhaps we are searching for icons of the 21st century right now.