How would you describe your creative practice?
It’s very fluid, and all over the shop because I guess I get creative inspo from everywhere. It starts scattered, and then I try to collect my thoughts to come together into one cohesive brand. It’s very interactive and I would like it to be collaborative in the future because I think it’s so interesting when you’re interacting with other creatives, and you can create something way more interesting than when you are just by yourself. I don’t just look at other fashion designers but also videographers, photographers and artists. I love to gain creative inspiration from all other creative aspects. I gain a lot of my inspiration from people on the streets and what they are wearing. Itadaki is a brand grown from Japan street aesthetic, so the people of the streets of Japan and the Harajuku girls. I love that aesthetic and am trying to push that through the brand and bring that style and visibility into Australia because I think it’s so quirky and unique, and Australians do love that. I am trying to bring elements of that over here in a more modest fashion. Itadaki is constantly evolving and it’s not even close to where I want it to be yet. I am still in the works of making a website and pushing this new brand aesthetic as well. I feel like it will always be changing and evolving, which is good. Down the line, Itadaki and Itadaki World should become a creative pair.
How is it working with your creative partner, Tobey?
It is so good, both of us have a lot of different ideas. We will bounce off each other and working with other people provides such a fresh perspective. So I might bring in an idea and then he’ll develop that from something that I hadn’t even thought of. He comes from a videography background, so he thinks of shots and it’s a very different creative way of thinking. Itadaki World is very random and it started off with us wanting to make a bunch of different videos for fun with effects. Tobey had told me, I can edit, and I had never seen something from him before so I said, show me something you can make. We made some videos and he was able to make it into this vision that we had and from there the ball just kept rolling. At the start the videos were just random and with no purpose but fun, and we are wanting to experiment with what we can do with different styles of film within Itadaki World. So the films we did recently for Melbourne Fashion Week, with the artists and fashion designers, were a really cool thing to do, it was a different mode of film that we aren’t used to. There was a lot of people we had to interact with to get that done and the final product was really cool, but the process was something neither of us had done before. I would love to continue that alongside the quirky videos. It was getting to the point where our friends would tell us ideas, because we had laid the foundation that we could do it. There is a lot of fashion brands and this is just pure content for the fun of making random content. I want to have the quirky videos and push that to break the grid and have them coincide with the Itadaki brand. I think that videos are the way of the future, but why not make it fun and creative and show the clothing off in the way that it would move when its worn or out and about? It’s not just going to be on a hanger.
Conceptually your brand is such a niche crossover and intersection of characteristics and influences because you have the conservative Japanese fashion fused with modern concepts yet 90s MTV style video edits but then again with more traditional fabrics – how would you describe it?
That’s exactly what I was going for. When I was looking at these questions and was trying to sum up what Itadaki was and if I was to say who is Itadaki? I would say Itadaki is the ‘alien Geisha’, in the sense that Geisha is a very traditional Japanese figure, a symbol of Japan, but it goes into the very conservative side of things but also it talks about the kimono construction and how they have such an eye for detail and are so delicate. So that is the Japanese culture and then the ‘alien’ is the unconformist and that’s how I have always felt in Japanese culture. Being half Japanese I do have that Japanese side—I want to fit in so bad—but I will never fit in, and I don’t mind that. Bringing those ideas to Australia, I love the idea of merging the two, of the conservative, detailed construction and materials, as Japan is really well known for their textiles but then also bringing in the quirky side that is uncomformist, but also not in your face. I know there are so many brands that do an amazing job of being out there and crazy and I don’t necessarily want that. I want it to be quite a modest approach of non-conformity. I do love the minimalist style but in construction its very Japanese, in pattern and aesthetic probably not. It’s very subtle from afar but up close its very detailed.
Is Itadaki influenced by your personal style? Is this direction something you’ve always been interested in or has your style grown alongside and been shaped by the brand?
My style has definitely developed since starting Itadaki. Only a year or two ago did I decide I wanted to get into fashion so it hasn’t been a long journey, but it has been quick and hard in the best possible way. It has developed as I have always loved the Japanese street style but only now am I embracing it and I’m constantly evolving, so I constantly want Itadaki to be more like that but not copying, just standing side by side with that aesthetic. I would say my personal style is a reflection and I hope it will be even more of a reflection in the near future.
What would like your brand to perceived as? You mentioned ‘alien Geisha’ was there anything else alongside this?
I want it to be known for its high-quality construction and I want it to be known as a Japanese brand present in Australia, bringing that Asian aesthetic here. Ultimately, I would love to go over to Japan and it to be known as Australian Japanese and it to be known as the alien—so it’s not necessarily from Japan but it can still thrive and have a heartbeat in Japan.
You have Itadaki World which does BTS videos and follows the up-and-coming scene, so grassroots designers and people similar to yourselves, what inspired you to create Itadaki World and tailor your audience to grassroots designers and the world of fresh designers?
For the Melbourne Fashion Festival, it was the first time we were taking Itadaki World more seriously and professionally, before that it was just fun random videos. I really want to continue doing that but we had booked tickets to the festival because I wanted to go for fashion purposes, but we thought why don’t we make a video and interview some people. We dropped that in and Tobey took that and ran with and reached out and contacted everyone in the Melbourne Fashion Festival on Instagram, seeing if they would be interested for an interview. It pretty much just went from there and everyone was really nice because I think it is that grassroots following, in that everyone was really respectful of what we were trying to do whilst showcasing them as well. For me, I find it more interesting with people that are closer and more relatable, it’s a more foreseeable future than interviewing more established Australian brands. Its more interesting interviewing those independent start-ups because it is closer to home and more achievable for the everyday person. Also for myself, because I would love to see myself at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in the coming years and I also thought I want to meet these people and make connections, how can I do this? We just made an interview and have made heaps of connections from that, and everyone was so loving and welcoming of us. Those kind of videos were so beneficial in terms of connections but also pushing me as well. It’s giving me something to learn from and its exactly where I want to be in a year or twos time and having those people to surround myself with, is such a great platform instead of just figuring it out myself.
Where would you like to see your brands and see your World develop to?
Down the line, and in the near future, I want to bring all the creative spaces together and use the videos more as video marketing for the clothing. The clothing is how you would make the money from this business, but the videos is the fun aspect with the quirky edits. But also, I would love to have fashion runways with live music and make it a really creative experience—full on for all the senses. Almost a sensory overload. I would love to push that community behind Itadaki because I know there are brands in the past that have done that really well, like Ksubi in the 2000s which is so cool. I want to have a space where all these creative experiences meet together and it’s just so full on that you don’t even know where to look, and I think that will then also make it for everyone. I want it to be somewhere that everyone can have their own outlet and there is no limit or boundary. I want it to be more than just a fashion brand and that’s where I want to push it in the future.
Interviewed by Joella Marcus