—Could you briefly tell us about your respective careers?

masaI moved to the US in 2007 to attend university in California, and after graduating, I moved to New York. At the time, I got a job as a design assistant at SABIT NYC, which was gaining momentum among street brands, and started my career in clothing production. After returning to Tokyo in 2014, I worked as a showroom coordinator. I now travel between Paris, New York, and Los Angeles, involved in bringing overseas brands to Japan.

KakunumaAfter graduating from jewelry design school at age 20, I launched a brand called Shinalized and began my career as a designer. At the time, my designs were mostly street-oriented, but I wanted to explore a broader approach, so five years ago, I renamed it Vacation Jewelry. While creating silver jewelry products, I also undertake projects for artist tour merchandise and jewelry for other brands.

—How did you two meet?

masaShoichi (Kakunuma) and I were friends who hung out in Shibuya and Roppongi since our teens, and he often visited when I was in NY. Many of my seniors and friends were musicians, like rappers and DJs, or creators involved in video and graphics. So, I was naturally influenced by hip-hop-based street culture.

KakunumaI was also rapping from age 15 to just before 20, and my circle of friends expanded through my music activities. It was through a mutual acquaintance, a rapper named YOUNG FREEZ, that I met masa.

—So, you both grew up sharing the same culture, and now you've launched offline while pursuing separate main careers?

masaIt started two years ago when we were exploring Paris Fashion Week together and talked about how it would be interesting to have a brand that fused clothing and jewelry. Initially, it was half in jest; we made prototypes by combining silver jewelry with Champion sweatshirts as the base. This spread among our friends, received positive feedback from many, and we decided to get serious. It also helped that it coincided with the timing when rappers in our circle began to gain recognition, moving from the underground.

—Does the brand name, offline, imply a deliberate rejection of the internet?

KakunumaIt's not about not having an e-commerce site or being anti-SNS. We are a generation that has experienced the transition of communication tools from landlines to feature phones to smartphones firsthand. Therefore, we understand the merits of both analog and digital, online and offline. However, these days, being constantly connected can be cumbersome, and the sheer volume of information can be exhausting. That's why we've become more conscious of the importance of face-to-face communication. Our concept is to leverage the convenience of online and social media tools while conveying our own offline reality.



—The items themselves are quite basic, but they featured 90s-inspired silhouettes, styling, and graphics. Do these design elements change with each season?

masaWe design with our roots in hip-hop culture, incorporating questions and messages about contemporary society. Graphics, in particular, are positioned as a highly effective means. For our official debut this season, the theme is "Urban Resort," and we design with the overall look in mind so as not to detract from the jewelry.

KakunumaI view masa's clothing as a canvas and design the jewelry accordingly. It's precisely because of constraints like silhouette and material that interesting ideas emerge, and we can enhance each other's designs.

—It must have been incredibly fortunate to have your official debut collection featured at Barneys New York.

masaIt's a true honor to be carried by such a renowned store, and at Barneys, no less, among such prestigious brands. We've received many congratulatory and supportive messages from friends we interact with daily, as well as from overseas. Above all, being discovered by Mr. Nakahashi was significant.

NakahashiWith the strong theme of the relationship between music and fashion this season, I looked at many brands, regardless of their fame. That's how I encountered offline; the hip-hop element in their background resonated with me. This also aligned with my focus on millennial designers. The fact that the two designers started the brand while having separate jobs also felt contemporary and interesting. Thus, I decided to embark on this launch event, wanting to nurture a nascent brand from the ground up.



—How do you view the current fashion scene?

masaSymbolized by Virgil Abloh of Off-White becoming the director of Louis Vuitton, individuals from the street scene are moving into high fashion. Designers who started making clothes through self-study, without attending fashion school, have proven they can succeed. We resonate with their approach of expanding the hip-hop community to disseminate fashion, and we feel it aligns with our own sensibilities.

—What are your future aspirations for offline, and how do you envision the brand's direction?

masaOf course, the scale of business is different from Virgil's, and it won't be an overnight success, but we believe we have a chance. I also style rappers in my circle, and we hope to gradually expand our community and make offline known. Furthermore, simply pushing culture won't sustain us long-term, so we will also focus on strengthening the clothing production itself by incorporating traditional Japanese techniques and materials.

KakunumaWe believe this distance, working on offline while maintaining our main jobs, is working very well, so we want to proceed at our own pace without overexerting ourselves. Instead of adhering to the traditional fashion industry cycle, we want to translate what we find interesting at any given moment into our creations and present them. Our ideal is to gradually increase the number of items we handle while balancing our momentum and stability.

EVENT
A pop-up store for offline is being held on the 8th floor of Barneys New York Shinjuku Store. Until August 12 (Sun).