At Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building a variety of stylists, from fashionistas with in-depth knowledge to highly fashionable well-dressed gentlemen, welcome customers. However, everyone starts out as a fashion beginner. There's bound to be a special attachment to the first item you bought in your youth.

This time, we're focusing on Hikaru Chisaka, the store manager of Men's Authentic Aquascutum on the 7th floor Isetan Shinjuku Store, Men's Building . A high school student who was obsessed with Yohji Yamamoto and JUNYA WATANABE MAN , he's been passionate about all kinds of outerwear, from new to vintage, ever since encountering "authentic" outerwear. Moreover, he's a specialist in freely mixing new and old styles. It all started with a single trench coat.

A trench coat that has guided me to where I am today.

Chisaka's interest in clothing began in high school. In Shibuya, her playground, she became interested in brands like Yohji Yamamoto and JUNYA WATANABE MAN . At the time, streetwear brands were booming. However, she wasn't interested in those kinds of clothes. Instead, her interest shifted to the origins of high fashion, to vintage clothing.

"The more I wore designer clothes, the more I realized that they actually had roots, and that if you traced them back, they were originally British military clothing or French workwear. When I became a university student, I started working part-time at a local vintage clothing store because it allowed me to connect with the roots of my favorite brands."

It's a large vintage clothing store that carries not only vintage denim and American casual wear, but also European vintage clothing. The store manager is a master of denim and leather, and Chisaka says he learned a lot of knowledge and information from him. It was at that store, which he still visits occasionally, that he bought a coat when he was working there part-time, and that coat helped establish Chisaka's current style, which is skilled at layering outerwear.

"The Aquascutum trench coat is the original design that became the foundation for all trench coats. I've always admired it, ever since I learned that Yohji Yamamoto trench coat I loved back then was based on this design. The fabric is from the previous version, unlike the current one. The slightly beige tint of the color has a certain charm, doesn't it? The fact that the collar's key hook, which is difficult to attach, is only attached with a single point is a specification that reflects the technology that was not yet advanced at the time."

Chisaka's trench coat is a vintage "Kingsway" model, a classic that is still available today. The material is "Aqua Five," which was created in 1959. The current model has been improved with "New Aqua Five," which is closer to green, and there are subtle differences, such as the fact that the key hook that closes the collar has been improved to a two-point fastening system. Nevertheless, the details such as the epaulets indicating rank insignia, the gun patch on the right shoulder, the throat tab that fastens the upper collar, the cape-like umbrella yoke that drains rainwater, and the deeply cut box-pleated inverted pleats are iconic trench coat designs that were already established at that time and are still carried on by many brands today.

The goal is a style that doesn't look like cosplay.

My growing interest in my favorite designer brands led me to acquire a trench coat. That purchase also influenced my career path after graduating from university. I got a job at an apparel manufacturer that was then distributing Aquas domestically. In my first year as a salesperson, I was assigned to the Super Men's section at Isetan Shinjuku, and now I've moved to a different floor and become the store manager.

"Aquascutum is a brand with a deep understanding of outerwear, starting with trench coats and continuing with car coats and balmacaan coats. Not just Aquascutum, but when I'm digging through vintage clothing stores in Koenji, I often notice things like, 'If this fireman's coat were updated with modern functionality, it would look like this,' or 'The details of this railway jacket could be used in current products.' That kind of interest has led me to collect all sorts of outerwear."

Her extensive knowledge was accumulated through her hobby of visiting vintage clothing stores. Leveraging this expertise, she now participates in product planning, proposing new ideas. This season's collection includes outerwear pieces with details suggested by Ms. Chisaka. The trench coat's design, featuring a large Velcro tape on the hood and a high collar at the front, reflects her ideas.

"Having seen workwear, military wear, and all kinds of vintage clothing, I can offer unique specifications. At Aquascutum, you can order custom coats, and I think the reason I can give such precise advice is because I've seen all kinds of vintage outerwear."

The jacket he was wearing that day was a vintage chef's jacket. It had a striped pattern that looked like hickory, but the surface was made of smooth cotton fabric, apparently it's French workwear.

"When I wear vintage outerwear, I make sure it doesn't look like I'm cosplaying. I don't want to look like a total vintage enthusiast, so I always mix in something new or current somewhere. In today's outfit, the mock neck turtleneck is a new item from a British brand. I also wear suits sometimes, and I don't wear vintage suits either (laughs)."

The store manager, who also handles product planning, has an unexpected dream for the future.

"This is my casual outfit for today," he says, layering a trench coat over a chef's jacket. He's clearly comfortable in this style, tying the belt without fastening the buttons. He's suspended his logger pants with braces, and paired them with a new mock neck top from a British designer brand. He finishes the look with Edward Green tassel loafers, creating a realistic yet perfectly blended mix of new and vintage pieces.

I like vintage, but I hate forcing it on others or having it forced upon me. Vintage is good precisely because it represents an evolution. Current Aquascutum coats are a continuation of vintage styles, aren't they? Wartime trench coats are so heavy they make your shoulders stiff and aren't practical. I think you can only appreciate the value of vintage if you understand why clothes are the way they are today, and why they've evolved technologically.

"I'm not a collector," says Chisaka with a laugh, revealing that her closet is overflowing with clothes. However, she confided that she actually has another side to her: she's a writer. "I'm still just a budding writer," she says modestly, but she's actually been writing novels since her student days.

"I've written works that use clothing as a theme, and I've even won a few small awards. One story I wrote, about a garment worn during wartime that passes through people's hands as secondhand clothing, features military wear as the main character. The setting, where the protagonist with a dual personality wears a Solaro suit that shows two colors depending on the light, also feels like a work that reflects my connection to clothing."

This aspiring writer, who has already won awards, apparently hasn't told his family or colleagues that he's writing novels. He writes under a pen name so that his works can't be found through searches, and he wouldn't tell us the titles of his works, but he says he intends to write under his real name when he eventually makes his major debut.

"There are manga that use fashion as a theme, but there aren't really any novels that use it as a theme. I dream of one day being able to live off royalties as a novelist (laughs). I have dreams like that too."

Her real name is also a pen name-like "Hikaru Chisaka." You might one day see this name in a bookstore.