You might be wondering, “Why interview HYKE?” I met them both privately. Our children happened to go to the same school, so I only know about their private side of life. (Laughs)

We go camping together as families and our children have sleepovers at each other’s houses. We are not in a work-related relationship so when we meet, we have a casual relationship where we talk about our kids and school.

At first, I was surprised to see Tetsu as one of the parents of the kids in the same grade as my own because, of course, I knew of him.

Yoshihara came home and said that Nishiyama from WTAPS was there. I replied, "No way! I'll try to talk with him the next time I'm at the school."

It was a surprise. I also knew that they had temporarily suspended their brand (green) after having children. I thought it was amazing that there were people who were willing to do things like that, then came to find out that we were at the same school! I had secretly admired the two of them for changing their lives 180 degrees after having children. It’s a completely opposite approach to my own as I created DESCENDANT after having children and wanted to give them a visual of their parents working, and although a different approach, I found it interesting that we share the same feelings of caring for our children as parents.

I was surprised we were able to restart the brand. (Laughs)
I think the brand was on hiatus for a little over four years, from the 2009 Spring/Summer collection until it was relaunched as HYKE with the 2013 Autumn/Winter collection. Even excluding the preparation period before the restart, I was completely away from work for three years.

Did you have any doubts or worries about taking a break at that time?

Yes, I was more worried about the process leading up to the suspension than the fact that we were going to suspend operations. We closed not only our office, but our store as well, so we had to discuss this with our staff first. Not only that, we had to notify and make sure our wholesalers, factories and customers understood. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to hear about a “hiatus,” but at that time, I had hardly heard of it, so I had no choice but to face it by feeling my way around.

It must have taken a lot of determination and energy. What made you decide to take a break?

We make clothes by complementing each other in our own areas of expertise, so I thought that the brand would be incomplete without Ode. It may sound like I’m being self-promoting but to me, Ode is good at making clothes and is a very talented designer. On the other hand, I’m more suited to branding that solidifies the brand image through an accumulation of details, so our roles and types are completely different. For example, it’s Ode’s job to make people think “the design, comfort, materials and colors are great” when people wear HYKE clothes, while it’s my job to make them vaguely think “this is the kind of brand HYKE is."

I love vintage clothes, so when I make clothes, I try to incorporate the amazing details of old clothing into the designs. Before I know it, they end up being replicas (laughs) or sometimes too standard, but by adding the HYKE-like approach to them, I think we are able to create a unique individuality.

We see ourselves as each being only half of a whole, and it’s only when we are together that we make a complete team so neither of us can function alone. Rather than continuing with one half missing and losing trust, we decided it would be better to return when we were in perfect condition.

I was also directly involved in placing orders with factories and negotiating delivery dates. Of course, there were staff members to support me, but in reality, it would have been too difficult to give birth and raise our first newborn child all while working at the same time.

It’s clear that HYKE’s clothes are developed by someone who loves clothes and it makes sense to me to hear that Ode-san is also in charge of dealings with the factories.

Ode is very good at creating an atmosphere that makes the people around her feel like “I want to work hard together.” The person who designed the clothes is passionate about it, so the people respond to it. When we restarted the brand, I was also drawn by Ode’s strong sense.

I understand the charm of Ode-san, who positively draws people in. Even in private, many people gather around her. How were you feeling during the hiatus, Yoshihara-san?

I felt like there was a hole in my heart. I was able to experience my children growing and it was time well spent, but I always had the feeling, "I am who I am only when I can create and express myself." I felt that working allowed me to be myself. However, until my child was born, I had been working so much that I didn't have time to look after my private life, so I was hesitant to return to the whirlpool of work. My feelings were always conflicted.

He is an extremely focused person, so when we started green in 1998, for the first 10 years, the only days off were the first three days of the New Year. The rest of the time, he was working nonstop. However, returning to that state would be physically and mentally draining and the family had grown and our environment had changed, so we reconsidered how we should work together to start afresh. We considered what we could and could not change within the scope of what we could do without pushing ourselves too hard.

For example, we decided not to open a physical store and focus on wholesale only (currently only operating an online store) because having a store would not allow us to take time off on weekends or holidays. We tried to avoid overtime as much as possible, the staff including. Unlike in the past, we came to the conclusion that it is only when we have a family and a healthy body that we can work hard at a high quality and capacity.

Yoshihara-san is a sincere person in everything he does so I can see the seriousness of his struggles. What do you two value most in your work these days?

I’m not so much sincere as I am just clumsy. (Laughs)
What’s important to me and what motivates me to work is to show my children how I work, just like Tetsu. When they were little, they did not understand what their parents did for work, but as they grew up, they began to understand it little by little. I hope that they will think about the structure and movements of the world and the future world in which they will work, through their own filters.

I want to cherish my personal time. Thinking about my current age of 55, I want to do whatever I’m interested in while I’m still healthy. The same goes for the things that are important as a parent. I think the best education for children is to show them how to struggle and move forward, even if we make mistakes sometimes.