Her lifestyle, which is kind to both mind and body, has been attracting attention, and her second book, "Miyako Takayama's Beauty, Food, and Appearance 2: 'Daily Little by Little' Continues" (published by Futabasha), was just released on August 31st. And right at the feet of the truly LOHAS-minded Ms. Takayama, there was ECCO .

—I hear you've been wearing them for about two years already.

I rotate between Takayama leather sneakers and 7.5cm heeled pumps. Before, heels were painful for me. I had to endure wearing them. I realized then that comfort and style can go hand in hand. When I first wore them, they were so soft and fluffy, I was like, "What is this?" The form is very simple, but they feel like high-tech sneakers.

—What kind of shoes were you wearing before that?

Takayama: When I was in my twenties, I was really focused on design and brands.

—What I realized after wearing them for a while is the quality of the material.

Takayama: Having aged a bit, I've only recently come to appreciate the charm of materials. It's not just fabrics, but good leather develops character with use. I'm thoroughly enjoying the process of watching it develop over time.

—And he has a great presence too.

Takayama fashion is inherently limited in terms of taste and age. ECCO is all-around versatile. It has universality. It's an essential brand for those aiming for a grounded style.


—So you aim for a grounded style. That means you've gained confidence in yourself and no longer feel the need to chase trends, right?

Maybe I just couldn't keep up with the Takayama trend (lol).

-- (laughs). How do you wear them?

Takayama's basic style is simple, but if everything becomes too simple, it can feel incomplete. On days when I wear ECCO shoes, I like to have fun with my clothes and accessories. A balance between sweet and edgy is important. With ECCO , I deliberately choose feminine items like dresses. Matching my accessories in silver gives a more refined impression.

Shoes: 54,000 yen

--How about men's items? This "Vitrus" is an exclusive item for Isetan Men's.

Takayama was so surprised he asked if they had a ladies' version (laughs). Bordeaux suits Japanese people well. It's not as flashy as red, and not as ordinary as brown. It's versatile enough to go with denim, cargo pants, and suits. If I were a man, I'd wear it with really casual clothes because of its elegant design. I'd want to use it as an accent to a vintage T-shirt or jeans.

--Ms. Takayama's lifestyle is something many people admire, and looking at the various things you've shared about your daily life on social media and in your books, it seems like you were destined to come across ECCO .

In my twenties, I really led a lazy life. Before I knew it, I had gained 10 kilograms and my skin was in terrible condition. That's when I received an offer to participate in the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon. I'm not bragging, but my physical education report card was always a "2" throughout middle and high school. I was the kind of kid who would fall over at the start of a race, like something out of a cartoon (laughs). I knew that if I pushed myself too hard, I would fail, so I gradually increased my pace while enjoying myself and staying within my limits. And I managed to finish the race. Having gotten a taste for it, I eventually achieved a record of 3 hours and 41 minutes in a full marathon.


Since the Takayama Marathon became a part of my life, my body shape has clearly changed. I also started to re-evaluate my diet. When I started waking up early and making breakfast, my skin became clearer and my constipation was cured. My mind and body became healthier, and I started to think about my own style in terms of makeup and fashion. For someone like me, ECCO was definitely the perfect brand.

Vol.3 Yukihiro Sugawara (Editor-in-Chief of shoe magazine 'LAST') | The claim that everything except the shoelaces is made in-house was not just for show.

Yukihiro Sugawara, one of the few fashion journalists with a critical spirit and editor-in-chief of the shoe magazine "LAST," ventured into the heart of ECCO .

Sugawara went on a reporting trip in April. I visited a tannery in Amsterdam, Netherlands, then traveled to Denmark via Germany to visit ECCO headquarters and design center, and from there to a shoe factory in Portugal. All in one week. I admit it was a pretty hectic schedule (laughs).

--Thank you for your hard work. Today, as a journalist who has actually set foot in the factory, we would like you to tell us about the appeal of ECCO .

Sugawara: Why don't you try them on first? The best way to get to know ECCO is to try them on.

──(I was amazed by the sound of air escaping, a sound unique to shoes that don't leave a single gap. And the moment I tightened the shoelaces and stood up, the words that came out of my mouth were...) It's simply amazing. The compliment of walking on clouds seems to have been made for these shoes. You can feel that you are enveloped in all directions, and that the contours of the soles of your feet are covered without fail.

Sugawara: That's the power of FluidForm, a manufacturing method we devised ourselves based on direct injection. It seems that many people think it's like a sneaker, but the design and structure are completely different from vulcanized sneakers, which are well known for that method. Both methods use a mold to vulcanize and press-bond the upper and sole, which are stretched onto a shoe last, but while the sole of a vulcanized shoe is already a finished product, the sole of a FluidForm shoe is liquid. In other words, the sole is also made from scratch during this sole attachment process. If you want to reproduce the bottom shape of a shoe last, there is no better manufacturing method than FluidForm.


—That's where anatomical structure comes into play.

Sugawara: Yes. The golden ratio of the shoe last was perfected after taking countless foot molds. The anatomical structure is the "invention" that made ECCO known to the world as a leader in comfort shoes, and the fluid form is a manufacturing method that optimizes this structure. It's truly a brand with "underlying" strength (laughs). ECCO doesn't compromise when it comes to this optimization. The same goes for the leather. As I briefly mentioned at the beginning, ECCO is a company that owns its own tannery.

—I doubt there are many other shoemakers in the world that also operate a tannery besides ECCO .

Sugawara: The first tannery was established in Portugal in the late 1980s. And now, they have more than one base. Starting with Indonesia, they established a factory in Thailand three years later. Furthermore, they now own four factories in the Netherlands and China.

──What were your impressions of visiting the factory?

Sugawara: This also applies to shoe factories, but first of all, they are overwhelmingly huge. I thought it was no surprise that their products are sold in 90 countries around the world. But what impressed me even more was how clean the factory was, with not a speck of dust to be seen. Everything is set up so that the craftsmen can work comfortably.


-- I hear ECCO 's tannery division is among the top five in the world.

Sugawara: That seems to be the case. In fact, we supply about half of our total production to other brands. I can't reveal their names, but our customer list includes a long list of renowned luxury brands. So, what is the strength that even luxury brands have had to acknowledge? It lies in cutting-edge technology backed by our capital. Leather that changes color with temperature, transparent leather, indigo blue leather using a newly established dyeing technique... Leather that far surpasses conventional standards is being developed day and night. Of course, our authentic collections, such as so-called calf leather, are second to none.

—How was that possible?

Sugawara's secret is located in the development factory within the company's headquarters in Denmark. While it has the equipment and personnel to function as a factory, as its name suggests, it's actually a sample maker—a lab. I'd say there were easily 100 staff members working there.

—That's larger in scale than some factories.

Sugawara (nodding): The priority of being able to create materials from scratch is immeasurable. You exclaimed in admiration when you tried them on, but this wouldn't be possible with off-the-shelf leather. ECCO has established a system to develop everything in-house in order to maximize the potential of its anatomical structure. Now, everything except the shoelaces is made in-house. This system not only improves the precision of manufacturing but also clarifies accountability.

—From a design perspective, Vitrus cannot be overlooked. One example is the hand-painting.

Sugawara: At the factory in Portugal that I visited, several local women were handling this process. Their technique was truly remarkable; if you only saw that part, it would be no different from a handmade shoe workshop in Italy. The brushstroke-like painting is perfectly suited to these country-style boots.

Boots ¥59,400

—Since these are mass-produced items, uniformity is required even in the hand-painting. What are your thoughts on that?

Sugawara: That's where the existence of a laboratory becomes crucial. It's likely that one of the world's leading laboratories manages the recipe.

—Another feature is the shoe last. The smart, rounded shape is simply modern.

Sugawara: I was truly impressed by this, but they have a last maker at their headquarters—a craftsman who makes the wooden lasts that are essential to shoemaking. It's common knowledge in Europe that the closer the designer and the last maker are, the better, but having an in-house last maker is quite rare.


—The "Artisan" shoes you're wearing today were also recommended by you, Mr. Sugawara, right?

Sugawara: This model features leather wrapped around the side of the sole, then polyurethane is injected and molded. In addition to the shank, the sole has a built-in lattice-like frame. This not only prevents twisting but also provides shock absorption. I think it's a unique shoe that goes into the structure itself.