[My resume 15] The presence and absence of Mr. Takahira

The other day, designer Yuge-kun said something like this.
"I design based on my memories up to the age of 15," he said.
I see, I thought.
I felt like I had heard the answer to why I felt so much sympathy for his collection, who is about 10 years younger than me.
Considering that Yuge-kun, who is a native of Tokyo, moved to Tokyo at the age of 18 and established his own fashion sense in his mid-20s, it means that his and I's sensibilities are exactly the same.

Of course, I owe a lot of my views on fashion to my boss at the time, but there was another person close to me who had an influence on me.
That person's name is Masao Takahira. When I was working as an assistant to Mr. Kondo, he was Mr. Kondo's assistant, so he could be called a ``brother''.
Mr. Kondo was born in Tokyo, and Mr. Takahira also grew up in Tokyo, but also in Okubo, so they were like ``urban delinquents'', and they were the opposite team to Goku and Ozawa-gumi, who were both from rural areas.
The first time we met was at the 1st anniversary party for TOOLS, where I helped out at the request of the attendant, and from then on, we started spending a lot of time together.
It wasn't strictly a teacher-pupil relationship between Kondo and Takahira, and Goku and Ozawa, but there were often crossovers depending on the work.
Therefore, the two of us often worked as assistants for the attendant's ``Popeye'' work.

Mr. Takahira was previously a staff member at Union Square, so I remember him taking me to Redwood at the time and chatting with Mr. Shimizu and Mr. Oki.
As an explanation, I can definitely say that from the late 80's to the 2000's, Union Square dominated the select shops (so to speak, import shops) in Shibuya.
Redwood on Meiji Dori, Namus Bee, which was across the street from what is now Tower Records, was a sacred place for Shibu Kazi.
And Louis Set, located in the basement of Spainzaka, was the hangout spot for the cutest high school girls in Tokyo! Furthermore, Outback Style is near Tokyu Hands.
They had a wide range of products such as ``Banana Republic'' when it was still a safari wear brand and ``Willis & Geiger'' which was a favorite of Hemingway... In other words, they were operated by a company called Union Square.

I would love to go to Houinham someday and delve into the booming days of Union Square in the 90s! I aspire to that. Looking at this lineup alone, you might think that Takahira likes America, but he has an unusually wide range of hobbies and is well-versed in European fashion.
I think I was taken to a gallery (International Gallery Beams) and bought lots of works such as ``Culture Shock'' by Koji Tateno, ``Crawler'' by Scott Crolla, and ``Romeo Gigli'' and ``Antonio Miro'', which were at their peak at the time. Hey.
I have fond memories of being envious of how nice it is to live at home and being able to buy so many clothes even though I only knew how much my assistant was paid.

She wasn't the caring type, she was an ``urban delinquent,'' so there was a certain coolness about her that kept people away, but looking back now, I realize that she greatly contributed to my knowledge and sense of fashion. I really think it was Mr. Takahira.

I also worked as a doorman at TOOLS BAR.
As I wrote before, I didn't get along well with the staff at Proper, so Takahira often got into trouble.
But I asked for my own drink at the bar counter with an innocent look on my face.
I also longed for the place where I was sitting. He also knows a lot about music and is a DJ at TOOLS BAR. The same goes for culture.
Around that time, there was a bookstore on Takeshita Street that sold back issues of foreign books at low prices, and I was taken there as well.
I was told that Per Louis, the younger brother version of Le Uomo Vogue, was a cool magazine, so I bought it.

This is the 1984 issue.
Bruce Weber's famous photo of athletes at the Los Angeles Olympics is featured here. 300 yen on the cover! Do you understand what is written?

It's been several decades since I last saw Takahira-san.
While I was busy thinking that I was independent and MADE IN WORLD, somehow our communication stopped.
It seems like a long time ago that I heard that he had passed away.
I don't really feel like I'm lonely or want to see him again, like when River Phoenix passed away, I accept the fact but I don't have any emotions...Hmm, I can't really express it well.
To be more specific, I feel like he's not actually dead, but someone will contact me and say, ``Ozawa, don't just pretend that you're dead!'' Seriously.

Well, my journey through time and space continues. Look forward to next time.