Check out intelligence magazine's interview with Shinsuke Takizawa of NEIGHBORHOOD
Shinsuke Takizawa of NEIGHBORHOOD covered intelligence magazine's fifth issue that released last Autumn and now you can read the cover story in full online where Shin talks about his different interests outside of clothing like motorcycles and his long fondness of plants. He also mentions the possibilities of opening new HOODS locations outside of Asia, more accurately in Europe and the US.
Check out a few excerpts below and head over to intelligence to read the piece in full.
Your racing suit seems to be one of a kind. Did you design this suit yourself? Is there any significance behind the number 46, and do the letters “SIN” on the back of your suit have a double entendre with your name “SHIN” and the literal word “SIN?”
There are a few members in our team; however I did the design for my own suit. There’s a place in downtown Tokyo called Kadoya, which specialises in leather craftsmanship from a long time ago, and we had the design custom-made there. I’ve been using this suit for a while, seven to eight years or so. When it came to acquiring our racing numbers, the number 46 just happened to be the next number in our team; however, the name on the back does have that double meaning. I think Japanese people probably think it’s just my name and don’t particularly think anything of it, but when people from overseas see it, there seems to be a bit of startled reaction (laughs). I like that double meaning.
Motorcycle culture has played a large role in NEIGHBORHOOD’s identity; however, NEIGHBORHOOD has seen a recent foray into plantlife within the last year. Can you explain this new venture into plants? Was this something you were always interested in?
I wonder how it actually started myself; I can’t recall a specific time to be honest. I was originally very interested in bonsai, I guess because I’m Japanese. I was interested in the different styles and shapes of bonsai, but to be able to make and keep them requires a great deal of skill and expertise. Just when I thought it would be too difficult to do it myself, I realised that cactuses and succulents also share a likeness with bonsai. I guess things started from there.
What do you have in store for NEIGHBORHOOD moving into the next decade?
I definitely want to further express what we do in the overseas market. At the moment we have HOODS stores, which we operate with WTAPS, in China, Hong Kong and South Korea. I’d like to see this grow into North American and European regions too. The Japanese market is also very important, and I don’t regard the Japanese market to be separate from the rest of the world anymore — it’s all the same now. I see it as a natural continuation of things from Japan to the rest of the world.
Continue to read the piece in full here.
