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    • People: Hiroshi Fujiwara

    Last week ,I was invited down to New York city for the grand launch of the Cole Haan x Fragment design Collaboration. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with esteem creative Hiroshi Fujiwara.

    MT:When did you first hear about the Lunar?

    HF: Mark Parker (Nike CEO) showed me the photo of these kind of Lunar soles. He said: “Are you interested in that sole?” I just fell in love with the idea.

    MT: What made your shoe different? How did you interpret this shoe? What did you want to do differently?

    HF: I do like the idea of the wingtip. Traditional meets hi-tech. They had already did the suede ones but I wanted to do something even more traditional.

    MT: Is this going to be the only time you collaborate with them?

    HF: No, no–I just had a big meeting today. (laughs) Maybe something’s on the table. I’m looking forward to it.

    MT: What do you like about the Lunar? What attracted you to it?

    HF: It’s not only Lunar. We’ll still keep doing Lunar, but maybe I’ll want to try something else also with Cole Haan technology and the traditional taste there.

    MT: In your day-to-day, is fashion and function a part of your life?

    HF: Yes.

    MT: When you buy clothes or get clothes, is it about fashion and function now?

    HF: I think so. I kind of mix together.

    MT: What kind of things do you like?

    HF: Traditional, with hi-tech material.

    MT: I noticed that you used a pebble leather on the LunarGrands.

    HF: Yeah.

    MT: Was there a reason for that in particular?

    HF: That is really traditional leather. I used to witness that in high school. That is exactly hi-tech meets traditional, which is my lifestyle also.

    MT: Are you still influenced by Japan or do you get inspiration from other parts of the world now?

    HF: Just from everywhere. I never did get inspiration only from Japan. I grew up with Punk, so Punk is one of the most inspiring things for me.

    MT: Punk?

    HF: Yeah. Punk Rock. The ’70s.

    MT: Where do you see the future of collaborations going? Everyone’s collaborating. Are you still a fan of collaborating? Is that still something you like doing?

    HF: I don’t know. I’m not sure if it’s a good word for collaboration. I think ‘talent meets talent’ or ‘designer meets designer’–

    MT: Partnership.

    HF: Yeah, kind of. I think that we’ll keep doing.

    MT: I see you’re always on Instagram. I follow you on Instagram. Do you like Instagram? What is it about Instagram that you like?

    HF: It’s just instant. Instant information to share with everyone. I do like it. And you don’t have to write so much about it, it just gives a hint.

    MT: I saw that you share and that’s the part you like, the sharing. But do you think that technology like Instagram, do you think it’s hurting the business or do you think it helps?

    HF: It’s both. There’s a good side and bad side to it. I think those information technologies sometimes stop something from growing up, because it’s changing all the time and you don’t have to work so hard to get information. You’re just getting so many [sic] information, so it’s that greedy part of you, but it’s good to have many [sic] information, as much as you can. So there’s two ways.

    MT: What still inspires you? What are some of the things that inspire you? You’ve done a lot of collaborations, you’ve worked with a lot of different brands, you’ve done so much. How do you stay inspired?

    HF: I think it’s personal. You meet new persons, interesting persons, talking about something, even the movies or culture, anything.

    MT: Does Punk still inspire you today?

    HT: Yeah, I think so. Like, early Punks. ’70s culture.

    MT: That’s Awesome, thank you.

    HF: Thank you.

    Photos by Rudy Calderon + Marcus Troy

    Marcus Troy

     

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