Interviews with an apparel shop staff | I tell the truth because I'm serious about what I do

Interviewee                  Mr. Yasunori Tokowa
Apparel sales staff

From eggshells to Lamborghinis, we now live in an age where everything is　available for purchase on the Internet. It has been nearly 30 years since the first online stores were opened in Japan, and now it can be said that online shopping has become firmly entrenched in our daily lives. It is common to go to a supermarket or convenience store when we run short of daily necessities or foodstuffs, but why does someone go to the trouble of going to a store to buy clothes that they don’t need immediately? They may want to try them on before buying, or it could be part of a date or simply strolling around the town. Perhaps they want advice from store clerks or they want to see the actual item in person. Everyone has their own reasons. Amid all these, I came across one reason that caught my attention. There is a salesperson who makes people say, "I want to buy clothes from him”. Who exactly is this person?

—----  High school days when he first encountered fashion
He is originally from Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture, and his family’s home is backed by mountains. When he was a child, his grandmother grew vegetables and fruits for their own consumption in the field, and his parents worked at the town hall. It was a daily routine for him to help his father with mountain work on weekends. After graduating from high school, he came to Tokyo and enrolled in the Fashion Design Department at Bunka Fashion College. “I just wanted to come to Tokyo. It was also a big factor that my older sister had already moved to Tokyo. On the day I graduated from high school, I took shinkansen and stayed at my sister's house in Otsuka for a while”. What was the reason for wanting to come to Tokyo so much? “Everything I was interested in was in Tokyo. But maybe the biggest reason was that I didn't want to keep working in the mountains helping my father all the time”, he says with a laugh. "In high school, I used to buy and read magazines like 'Boon,' 'smart,' 'street Jack,' 'warp MAGAZINE JAPAN,' and 'relax'. However, there were no stores in my hometown where I could buy clothes like those in the magazines, and I had no way to go to the city to buy them. I felt like all I could do was acquire knowledge about clothes”. He really wanted to wear SILAS & MARIA outerwear or Supreme varsity jackets, but he ended up wearing clothes bought by his mother from the local department store. He would occasionally spot clothes in the magazines that he really wanted to wear, and he saved up his allowance to buy one item per year. Items like TIGRE BROCANTE suede boots, SPINSTER bomber jacket, and COCUE deptrai patchwork shorts. These are things that he’ll surely remember for the rest of his life.
Among his favorite magazines, 'relax' was the most influential, and even though it ceased publication in 2006, it is still a culture magazine with many fans. With its distinctive and edgy features, the magazine continued to have a huge impact on him after he moved to Tokyo. "The features on Rammellzee and James Jarvis were really cool. I also like that the core of  'Relax' is delving into different cultures", he says. ‘Relax’ was like a textbook for him in that he learned a lot about the stories behind brands and the way fashion is a part of our lifestyle.

—----  Digging into what he loves
He became interested in clothes in high school and studied fashion at a vocational school. I thought his love of clothes led him to a career in apparel, but it seems that this is not exactly the case. "I used to read 'CoroCoro Comic' and 'Comic BonBon' when I was a kid", he says. That's how I got hooked on ‘Dagangu’, starting with Bikkuriman. I also listened to a lot of music, starting with the major American rock duo Hall & Oates. Of course, I liked clothes too, but it wasn't something special. I was always attracted to the culture and background of the things I liked, and I liked the time I spent delving deeper into them", he says. He says that the 'Urahara (Ura-Harajuku) culture’ that he incorporated into his knowledge during his teenage years seems to apply to everything in today's fashion industry. Perhaps it is his ability to enjoy the vast amount of information and make it his own that has helped him so much in his work. "I'd like my customers to understand the creativity and worldview of the brand, so I carefully explain the background and circumstances to them when I serve them. Knowing these things will change their feelings and values toward clothes. This way of thinking is exactly how he treats the things he loves. “When I dig deeper and deeper, I find that there are many things involved, such as technique, materials like fabric and glue, equipment used to make the clothes, and historical background. There is always a reason why things are expensive and valuable", he says. The thick clothing encyclopedia in his mind is made up of conversations with designers from TV, magazines, books, and at fashion exhibitions (during the interview, the conversation evolved into a discussion of lost technologies and loopwheel machines, which was also interesting).

—----  Clothes that are truly suitable for you

The Sun House Jinnan store to which he belongs is a select shop. In addition to its own brands, Hinoya and Burgus Plus, the store carries about ten other brands. What are the criteria for the brands the shop selects? "We select brands that are not easily influenced by short-lived trends and whose value doesn't change. Those brands should be timeless and their aging should be enjoyable". I also asked him about the meaning of buying at select shops rather than directly-managed brand shops. "We can make suggestions that help customers establish a benchmark when they don't know what to buy.” He says that by observing customers who visit the shop, he can generally understand what kind of person they are. He can usually tell what kind of person a customer is by looking at them when they visit his store. He likes to observe people and can tell what kind of shoes they wear, how they choose shoes to coordinate with their outfits, what kind of disposable T-shirts and socks they wear, what kind of outerwear and watches, and even their approximate financial situation. “We believe that most customers come to our store wearing their favorite clothes that match their mood at the time. In addition to the　clothes customers are wearing, based on their body shape, hairstyle, hair color, and so on, I suggest clothes that would suit them". Because he hopes customers will come back and continue to come back for a long time, he looks at what they wear, tries to understand their individuality, suggests items that would suit them better, and presents new possibilities for them. "It is interesting to recommend what is truly suitable for each customer", he says. The phrase 'truly suitable' that he uses is profound. From the customer's point of view, his first impression may be that he is a bit of a strange clerk who modestly shows clothes selected for the customer, saying, "I just want to show them to you, but I thought they would look good on you".(This customer seems to have this kind of problem, that's why he wears this kind of clothes, but this shape will solve his problem and look better on him). After giving their look much thought, the first time he speaks to the customer, it leads to communication that is one step ahead of the others’. People who experience his customer service for the first time say, "I've never had recommendations like this," and continue to return to see him. He says that many people come to him simply to talk about music or their hobbies. "I think just talking is fine. They purchase at the right time for them", he says. Listening to him, it seems as if he is proposing a lifestyle rather than simply providing customer service in an apparel store.—----  A shop like a houseA house like a shopI heard a story about a customer that stuck in my mind. "About four years ago, I think. The customer said 'Thanks to you, Tokawa-san, I gained confidence in myself and got married. But I can't come to this shop anymore because I can't spend money on clothes after I get married". That was the last time I saw the customer. But that's okay". If he doesn't have something that suits the person, he wouldn’t recommend any. He always tells the customer both the advantages and disadvantages of the clothes he recommends. He stays considerate of the customer's needs. He doesn’t stop at just clothes; he’s more than willing to provide customers with the knowledge that they really want.  This kind of customer service cannot be experienced in online shops, and it is not always guaranteed even if you visit physical stores.In the shop, there are 'Dagangu' lined up with the clothes, and the background music that resonates with people who are knowledgeable about music is playing, making their hearts dance. 

【Notes】
※Boon
Street fashion magazine first published in December 1986 by Shodensha, ceased publication in 2008.

※street Jack
A fashion magazine first published in 1997 by Bestsellers, ceased publication with the December 2017 issue.
※warp MAGAZINE JAPAN
Fashion culture magazine targeting men first published in May 1996 by Transworld Japan K.K., ceased publication in 2018. It is currently available on the web.

※SILAS&MARIA
Brand started in East London in 1998.

※TIGRE BROCANTE
Apparel manufacturer established in Fukuoka in 1998.

※SPINSTER
ITOCHU Corporation's brand led by Yuichi Kuroda, a designer who has worked on “Lad musician” as creative director in 1999. 

※COCUE deptrai
Men's line of the Japanese brand "COCUE" opened in Daikanyama in 1996. The concept is “oriental”, “ethnic”, and “folklore”. The brand closed in 2015.

※Dagangu
Retro and inexpensive toys, similar to those sold in traditional Japanese candy shops (dagashiya). These are cheap toys, and some of them may not be licensed. Nowadays, it's said that they are often more valuable than the officially licensed versions.

※Ura-Harajuku Culture
A type of street culture that emerged in the 1990s in the Jingu-mae area of Shibuya Ward, slightly away from the main streets. Even today, the Ura-Harajuku area is home to many apparel shops popular among young people. In the world of fashion, Hiroshi Fujiwara and NIGO® are seen as leading figures of this culture, known for their collaborations and direction with a wide range of global brands, including high-end brands.

※Select Shop
An apparel or goods store that offers a curated selection of various brands that fit the store's concept.

Japanese Articles：
信頼される人 | 対面接客だからこそ得られる情報を組み立てて、本当に似合うファッションを提案する
Translator Tomoko Hashiba