1000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

Takuya Miyama, Tomoko Kamijima/near.nippon 275

086

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The company name

evokes geographical

references, but it is

actually conceptual:

near is used to bring

an element closer to

another end. Deeply

rooted in tradition

and holistic allusions,

designers Takuya

Miyama and Tomoko

Kamijima believe

that nature  ows

not from the center

but from the linking

of two circles. More

speci cally, they care to

make universality and

contemporaneousness

coexist in their

garments. Trends tend

to wear thin and lose

color. In the opinion

of the Japanese duo,

clothes take root in

life and for this they

never truly fade. This

is re ected in their

company image–the

name and logo shows

not belonging of each

circle but balance at

the junction. Near.

nippon opened as a

collaboration between

the two designers in

2000, and right from

the start Takuya took

charge of the design

concept and Tomoko

cast his ideas into shape.

Takuya Miyama, Tomoko Kamijima/near.nippon

www.near-nippon.com

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26/11/09 17:00:42

851 INSPIRATION. We always think

about the harmony of directly-opposed

ideas.

8 52 R

EFERENCES. Miyama thinks about

season concept and designs. Kamijima

makes patterns and silhouettes. Hattori

(our assistant) makes details of clothes.

853 D

EVELOPING A COLLECTION. We try

to do it by the silhouettes and details of

clothes.

854 M

ATERIALS. We choose them by

the silhouette that wants to be made. We

buy them from the trader who has treated

materials of many companies. There aren’t

materials that I never choose.

855 T

RADITIONAL MANUFACTURING

VS. EXPERIMENTATION. We prefer

experimentation. Yes, we think it’s a good

way to express directly-opposed ideas.

276 1,000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

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856 BRAND VA L U E S . We aim to create

individuality. Our brand name near is

coined to mean “to bring an element closer

to another end.”

857 I

S FASHION ART? We think that the

onlookers decide whether the collection is

art or not.

858 A

DVICE. Chat with people that have

experience.

859 SALES. We don’t know what makes

for good sales.

860

C

OMMUNICATION STRATEGY. Our message is

our collection. My communication strategy

is to drink alcohol.

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861 INSPIRATION. I decide the line the

collection will follow depending on the

feeling I have at the time. It all depends

on the state of mind I’m in. I had a

somewhat eighties street in uence last year

and I recently went back to much more

glamorous and chic in uences.

862 D

EVELOPING A COLLECTION. I do all

of the design work at home only, with music

and television in the background–and with

alcohol as an accessory. And it has to be

alone and late at night. I need to be able to

disconnect completely so as to be able to

design, and that’s only possible at home.

863 M

ATERIALS. All of my eyewear

is made from cellulose acetate from

the Italian company Mazzuchelli.

Nevertheless, if I’ve been stocking

standard colors for a few seasons, I rework

them or I put them together to make new

colors that will be exclusive to us and that

will never be seen in other collections.

864 C

OLORS. The material and colors

in a pair of eyeglasses are a means

of conveying a message and a way of

differentiating them from others. The work

involved in the material is as important

as what goes into the shapes. The same

style in two different colors can convey

diametrically opposed messages.

865 Y

OUR RIGHT ARM? I don’t have

any consultants in the design process. I

design by myself. I don’t listen to advice

so as not to let it interfere with my creative

processes. The same goes for my choice of

colors. I normally have a solid idea of the

result I want to achieve.

278 1,000 Ideas by 100 Fashion Designers

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