The origin of SEVEN BY SEVEN designer Junya Kawakami's clothing design lies in his experience of encountering a large amount of vintage clothing in San Francisco. Without adhering to vintage textbooks, he has continued to select vintage clothing based on his intuition, and through his filter, he creates a variety of clothes that are somehow nostalgic, new, and anonymous. A SEVEN BY SEVEN pop-up event will be held at Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building 6th floor = Men's Contemporary from March 25th (Wed) to April 7th (Tue). We spoke with Mr. Kawakami about his philosophy of creation, the limited and pre-release items for this pop-up, and the special decorations.

The potential of vintage clothing that I realized in San Francisco

—I understand the brand name Seven by Seven is derived from San Francisco.

I used to go to San Francisco in the late 90s. I would come back occasionally, but I stayed there for a long time. San Francisco is 49 square miles in area, which fits within a 7-mile by 7-mile area, so the locals called it "SEVEN BY SEVEN." That said, that term didn't exist when I was living there, but I heard it many times when I went to San Francisco to prepare to launch my brand, and I thought it was a good term, so I decided to use it.

—Was your initial purpose for going to San Francisco to buy vintage clothing?

Actually, I didn't have a clear purpose. I just happened to stumble upon a huge pile of used clothes while taking a walk, and it turned out to be a place where people had donated items for various reasons. It wasn't just denim and shirts, but underwear, socks, all sorts of things were mixed together (laughs). It was different from the image of used clothing in Japan; it was a huge pile of real clothes that local people had worn, without being sorted. Occasionally, you'd find a collection of personal belongings from cool people. It felt like I was directly experiencing the lives, tastes, and preferences of the previous owners, and that was really fun. The hygiene was pretty terrible though (laughs).


—So your experience of seeing a large amount of used clothing forms the basis of your current values, right?

Since there was no one to teach me, I just touched a huge amount of clothes and made my own judgments. It's embarrassing to say, but I felt like I learned from the clothes themselves. I mixed together everything—what old ladies wore, what cool guys wore, everything. I think I approached it from a different perspective than what you'd call a vintage connoisseur. I learned in San Francisco that there's potential in any used clothing.

──Seven by Seven gives off a vintage clothing root, yet it has an anonymous feel to it, in a good way, making it difficult to understand. What is your aim in this?

We're not just focused on reproducing vintage details; we want to create new, valuable clothing based on our past archives. It's about adding something extra to a simple reproduction.

—How do you actually go about coming up with ideas when you're designing?

I often think in terms of production technology. I visit many factories and see what the craftsmen can do, and then I try to give shape to that in my own mind. I think it's difficult to understand Seven by Seven's clothes just by looking at photos, and even when you see the real thing, it doesn't come across at first glance. It's a bit of a heads-up, but for the Fall/Winter 2020 collection, we'll be using fabrics that blend denim with wool, so it's the kind of thing that people who like it will really like.


—That attention to detail seems to be what attracts people who have seen a lot of clothes.

Thankfully, we often receive that kind of feedback. It makes me think that it's okay for a brand like this to exist.

──Do you have an image in mind of how you'd like people to wear it, or what kind of person you'd like to see wearing it?

Not at all. Anyone can wear it. In our Spring/Summer 2020 lookbook, we had women wear it, and it turned out really beautifully. I hope people will feel free to incorporate it into their wardrobes and enjoy it.

The dedication put into the limited-edition items and our thoughts on the pop-up event

──What thoughts did you put into the pop-up at Isetan?

First of all, I think it's a huge advantage that we'll be able to reach a different audience than before. I'm looking forward to seeing how it's received, including overseas. We've prepared some special items for this occasion.

—First, please tell us about the vintage embroidered T-shirt that was specially prepared for this occasion.

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  T-shirts: 55,000-110,000 yen

These are unique, one-of-a-kind special pieces: vintage printed T-shirts adorned with hand embroidery. We've prepared a very limited quantity of these special items specifically for this pop-up, spending about six months on them. We hope you'll enjoy choosing one as if you were buying a painting.


I've mainly selected vintage band t-shirts, and while I acknowledge their rarity and high market value, I believe they also have excellent embroidery color combinations and can be worn in a variety of styles without being limited by specific looks.

--Next up are the collaboration items with artist Masakatsu Shimoda. These feature prints of Mr. Shimoda's artwork, right?

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  T-shirt: 6,600 yen

We'll be offering a pre-sale of T-shirts from our Fall/Winter 2020 collection at this pop-up. My friendship with Ms. Shimoda began when we collaborated on a project for the Michiko Kitamura special issue of the magazine "Switch." She helped me a lot with the Fall/Winter 2020 collection. I love the hand-drawn feel and souvenir-like quality that's unique to Ms. Shimoda. These T-shirts, reminiscent of souvenirs from San Francisco, will also be relevant to the brand's story going forward. We have a lot of surprises planned for next season's collection... so please look forward to them. They'll be available in 6 colors, including an Isetan-exclusive color.

──And finally, there's the limited-edition gown, right?

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  Gown coat: 61,600 yen

The pattern is reproduced using jacquard weaving. It's not an unusual technique, but it made me realize once again the wonderfulness of Japanese weaving techniques. It has an exceptional feel when you wear it. I also love the look. It's made to be lightweight, so you can throw it on easily and I think it will suit the Japanese climate. We created this while talking with the people at Isetan. It was really fun to create it while listening to what customers wanted, after they understood the characteristics and value of the fabric. I think we found a good compromise.

—Could you tell us about your thoughts on this pop-up event?

For the display, we've prepared a special fixture made by piecing together denim scraps left over from the production of Seven by Seven's reconstructed items. I've been spending sleepless nights thinking about how it will be something unlike anything before, and how I hope our customers will enjoy it (laughs). I'm also scheduled to be at the store, so I hope we can talk about things that will make clothes more fun. I'm looking forward to meeting you.