intelligence magazine takes a closer look at retaW
intelligence magazine has taken a deep dive into the Tokyo based fragrance and apothecary label retaW (pronounced ri-’tü) for their latest issue. Visiting their Harajuku store, their design office and even their factory in the prefecture of Saitama, they were able to get an in depth look at the brand and the products all the way from the labs to the assembly line before they finally end up at the store. Check out a few photos and excerpts of the feature below and head over to intelligence magazine to read the whole interview.
When and how did retaW start?
retaW was first started in 2009 by Hiroshi Fujiwara and Daisuke Murakami, the latter who happens to be a physician. Hiroshi, a prominent figure - first as a DJ and then as a designer, is involved in different cultural facets - with fragrances being one of them. The timing was just right that he and Daisuke wanted to do a fragrance label attached to the culturally creative world. The brand started from a simple body shampoo and naturally grew from there.
retaW has done a number of collaborative projects with the likes of NEIGHBORHOOD, Burton, Head Porter, and BAPE. How do these projects come about?
In similar fashion to the way the brand comes up with ideas of fragrances or products, it all happens organically. For most of the collaborations, we're approached by brands. However recently with collaborations, we’ve actually been stepping away from this, as we see a market already flooded with collaborations. We will only pursue a collaboration if it truly holds some kind of meaning or significance. For example, with our fragrance spray with Burton, we realized through experiences at ski fields that a lot of ski resorts often use a terrible watered down solution of ethanol spray to sterilize outerwear and boots. Through our ties to Burton, we casually discussed this issue and things naturally took shape from there. Most of these projects usually come through Hiroshi's affiliate brands, someone we usually already have a history or relationship with.
