What Oosumi was doing started to become a global trend.

POGGYDABO, you visited Liquor,woman&tears when I was directing it, and we also went out for drinks once, right?

DABOWe did.

POGGYIt was really meaningful for us to have someone like you, who's active in the real Japanese hip-hop scene, visit our store. Could you tell us again why you were interested in Liquor back then?

DABOThe store had a clear concept, didn't it? "Dress shoes with the feel of sneakers."



POGGYThat's right. The core concept was "polishing dress shoes and polishing sneakers are the same thing."

DABOI found that interesting. Also, you were mixing street wear with high fashion, which is common now but wasn't then. Back then, it was really just you, Takeshi Oosumi (formerly of SWAGGER/PHENOMENON, now designer at MISTERGENTLEMAN), and VERBAL who were doing that kind of thing. I was drawn to it because it all felt interesting.

POGGYI still remember, you bought a pair of TANINO CRISCI dress shoes from Liquor. You even mentioned "Tanino Crisci" in one of your songs, didn't you?

DABOI did (laughs). Most people in hip-hop had no idea what brand that was, so they probably thought, "What is he talking about?"

MACKA-CHINI didn't know either (laughs).

POGGYIt's a very classic Italian dress shoe brand.

DABOI remember Tomoki Tsushima asking me, "What shoes are those?" When I replied, "Tanino Crisci," he said, "Are rappers that rich?!"

POGGY(Laughs) They were quite expensive, weren't they? How did the other members of NITRO see you back then?

MACKA-CHINHonestly, they were put off by it.

Everyone(Laughs)

MACKA-CHINI was into American casual wear in high school. After graduating, I even managed a STÜSSY store, so I totally get the appeal of fashion. But in a way, I was bound by hip-hop, so I was only interested in American brands. DABO, however, was increasingly drawn to European brands, loafers, and tight pants. Like a Japanese TV personality (laughs). But I'm not dissing him.

DABOYeah, yeah (laughs). But that's how it looked to you. Around 2004 or 2005, there was a period when sizing suddenly became smaller, right? I used to wear XXL or XXXL t-shirts, but then I started wearing M, and my nipples would show through.

POGGY(Laughs)



DABOEven GORE-TEX, who's the style leader in NITRO, was surprised, saying, "I can't believe DABO's going that way!" Though I've gone back to XXL and stuff now. (laughs)

POGGYAround the time when Parisian electronic music started influencing hip-hop, European high fashion began to be incorporated into hip-hop fashion as well. That's when pants started getting skinny. There was a trend like that.

DABOThat's right.

POGGYOosumi also suddenly started wearing skinny jeans around that time. Apparently, people overseas told him, "That's not hip-hop!" But then, six months later, the same people were wearing skinny jeans (laughs).

DABOWhat Oosumi was doing gradually started becoming a global trend. We really saw that firsthand back then. About two years after Oosumi wore them, satin jackets started becoming popular. I thought, "Wow, that's amazing!"

MACKA-CHINAre you saying that Tokyo's fashion, or rather Japanese fashion, was ahead of Paris and New York Fashion Weeks?

POGGYIt still is, but there was a sense that Japanese fashion was being globally accepted in the street fashion scene. Also, Paris Men's Fashion Week has become more Americanized now. You see hip-hop artists sitting in the front row.

MACKA-CHINAlexander Wang often holds hip-hop events in New York, and I even DJed at his Aoyama store event. They requested a "hip-hop set," so I played Cypress Hill, and then I felt a bit awkward seeing the glamorous female customers taking selfies with their smartphones (laughs).

Everyone(Laughs)

MACKA-CHINI didn't even know the Alexander Wang brand that well. They said the theme of that collection was inspired by 90s hip-hop. So, at that party, I realized that even high fashion brands are now being run by a generation influenced by hip-hop.



POGGYLet's go back to fashion. Could you tell us where you all drew your influences from?

MACKA-CHINI used to watch hip-hop music videos and check out the fashion of American artists. I saw Busta Rhymes wearing MARITHÉ + FRANÇOIS GIRBAUD jeans, and when I went to the shop in Daikanyama back then, they were so expensive I almost fainted (laughs).

XBSIn terms of the New York vibe I got from videos, the image of TIMBERLAND's yellow nubuck might be the strongest.

DABOBut in the 90s, official Timberlands were incredibly expensive, so we couldn't afford them at all.

XBSSo, back then, we'd buy them from parallel import shops. They'd buy them in bulk from outlets and sell them cheap.

MACKA-CHINBack then, PROPELLER in Harajuku had a lot of NEW ERA caps.

DABOPropeller and other American casual stores really helped us get hip-hop fashion items.

MACKA-CHINLike me, our generation was into American casual wear.

Page02.Nike "Air Force 1" is an icon of hip-hop culture

Page. 2

POGGYIn the 2000s, you ran the brand NITRAID as NITRO. How did that come about?

XBSOur group's debut was with Manhattan Records. The president of Manhattan at the time was someone who let us do whatever we wanted. Then the idea of "Maybe we can do clothing too?" came up, and it started pretty casually like, "Well, why not try it?!" So, from NITRO, it was me, GORE-TEX, S-WORD, and the designer EIGHT GRAPHICS who were involved. The four of us initially started under the name NITROW. Back then, we were heavily influenced by HECTIC and the senior figures in Harajuku's fashion scene. We consulted with those seniors and started the brand by following the methods of domestic brands at the time.


MACKA-CHINOf course, we had music as our background, but wasn't the trend at the time for domestic brands?

DABOSWAGGER also started around the same time in hip-hop. For bands, brands like devirock, MACKDADDY, and BOUNTY HUNTER were popping up one after another. I think NITRAID also started within that flow.

POGGYSo, there was a trend of people from the music scene starting brands?

XBSYes. But the bands were earlier. Hip-hop came a bit later, perhaps? NITRAID was always compared to SWAGGER. SWAGGER started a little earlier, so we had to visit stores that didn't carry SWAGGER to find wholesale clients. The brand image of NITRAID leaning towards a more rugged, street style might be because of that. Of course, our own preferences were the base.

POGGYWatching how NITRAID operated, I felt like you were making clothes in a similar way to how you created your music.

XBSThat might be true. The sampling technique, for example. Including T-shirt designs, there were probably many aspects that were easier to do because it was hip-hop.

POGGYSeparately from the brand, you also created NITRO models of "Air Force 1" and "Delta Force" with Nike, didn't you?

XBSWhen we debuted as NITRO, I really wanted to make shoes with Nike. I used to work at Nakata Shoten in Ueno, so through my connections there, I asked Yamato and MITA Sneakers to "introduce me to someone at Nike." That's how I somehow managed to reach Nike. We told them, "We're debuting, please make shoes for us!"



POGGYAt that time, for an artist to do something like that must have been quite a big deal, wasn't it?

XBSIt was. I really wanted to make an "Air Force 1" using reflective material. But back then, flexible reflective material, which is commonly used in clothing now, was hard to find. So, at first, I just used a silver material and made a low-cut "Air Force 1." Since we couldn't sell them, we made about a dozen pairs as promos and gave them to the members. That's how our relationship with Nike began.

POGGYEven if they were just promos, that's an amazing story.

XBSAfter that, when we released our second album in 2004, they made a NITRO model of the "Delta Force" for us. We used a picture of the sneakers on the CD jacket, and even used Nike's shoebox design for the packaging. I think it was unprecedented in Nike's history for an official Swoosh logo to be on something other than a Nike product. If they had found out at headquarters, we probably would have been fired. For NITRO's 10th anniversary best album in 2009, we really wanted to do an "Air Force 1," so we created a fairly well-made high-cut version.

POGGYWhy did you focus on the "Air Force 1" model?

MACKA-CHINWhen I looked at record jackets of American artists, they were all wearing "Air Force 1s." Of course, there were Jordans and cool running shoes, but B-boys would perfectly style the all-white "Air Force 1," which could look super dorky if worn incorrectly. I think that's part of the hip-hop culture surrounding the "Air Force 1."

POGGYBy the way, what kind of sneakers do you all like?

MACKA-CHINI like tennis, so tennis shoes. And running shoes too. I'm short, so high-tops don't suit me, and I'm hesitant about basketball shoes. Of course, when Nike is involved in an event, I'll dress sharply in "Air Force 1s."

POGGYDo you prefer ones with a sharp toe?

MACKA-CHINMaybe. With sneakers, you can enjoy them from a top-down angle, right? That's why I like the sharp ones.


POGGYMe too. I like basketball shoes, but I can't quite pull them off. So, I envy people who wear basketball shoes stylishly.

DABOBIGZAM in NITRO is a big guy, and he looks really cool in basketball shoes. His feet are big, and he has the height from the knee down, so he can pull them off like a foreigner.



XBSLike black guys in New York wearing shorts and basketball shoes.

POGGYThat look is really cool.

XBSI've always been drawn to that look from behind. That's why I really like basketball shoes. I guess it's because I loved Michael Jordan so much, I've always followed him.

POGGYWhich "Jordan" models are your favorite?

XBSFor me, it's 1, 3, 4, and 5.

DABOYou can rattle them off so easily (laughs).

MACKA-CHINWe were wearing the 5s in high school, so generationally, the 5 is spot on. The 1, 3, and 4 are ones I went back to later, like digging for old funk and soul records.



XBSThe designs of the "Jordans" were so different, weren't they? Like, "Is this even Nike?"

DABOThey didn't have the Swoosh, even though they were Nike. That was really revolutionary.

POGGY’S FILTER｜vol.7 DABO, MACKA-CHIN, XBS (Part 1)