Today we’re glad to premiere the new collection of FACETASM + New Documents – Fall/Winter 2021.
To present their new collection, the brand has decided to produce a short-film that would share the universe of the brand and the new pieces. We had a chat with Facetasm’s founder Hiromichi Ochiaiabout his brand, work and the new collection.
Could you introduce your self and the idea behind your brand?
My name is Hiromichi Ochiai and I founded FACETASM in 2007 in Tokyo.
The brand name “FACETASM” is a neologism of the word “facet” which refers to one side of something many-sided. With everything we do, we always aim to show new and unexpected angles of our creations as one creation can have various aspects to it.
How would you describe Facetasm in three words?
FACE, fantasy & impulse
What was the idea for this new collection?
This season, it has been assemble from our daily life in Tokyo and days of creating.
To be honest, I can’t narrow down to just one idea.
Everyday life in Tokyo has always been an endless source of inspiration. Everyday while walking or riding my bike through Tokyo I notice new things or see things from a different perspective.
How has the pandemic affected your work and creativity?
Since July of last year, the men’s fashion week in Paris all of a sudden had to change into a digital version. Few brands had experience in making fashion movies. So everybody had to be ready to start at once! This causes, so to speak, “the dawn of the fashion videos”, meaning that everybody had to start making fashion videos at almost the exact same time. Everyone is still exploring, so even small brands may be able to beat the big Fashion Houses with innovative ideas. If you stop with the traditional fashion-show and spend all your budget on a movie, you might get a ridiculously high quality visual. I think this is interesting as it has changed the values completely, shaken up everything and levelled out the playing field.
What were the influences/inspirations for this new collection?
In May of last year, we held a show in Tokyo for the first time in five years.
After five years of showing in Paris, showing again in Tokyo, I was able to recognise once again the power of the people involved at this show and the coolness of Tokyo. It was from that feeling that I started designing.
Psychedelic and Noise Rock are known to be your favorite music genres, what have you been listening to lately?
Lately I have been listening a lot to young Japanese hip hop music. I especially really like KID FRESINO, a rapper and DJ from Saitama.
The new collection is presented through a short-film. Could you tell us more about it, and how the approach differs from doing a classic fashion show?
This is a documentary-inspired film of different moments of people of various values around Tokyo.
Presenting a collection through a video is a more open approach than a fashion show. Especially when you can do it on a sophisticated platform of art and culture, such as Somewhere Magazine. Nobody needs front row tickets to experience it, everybody can watch, it makes it all more inclusive.
What’s next?
FACETASM designs are generally more for core fashion lovers, but we are currently working on a project to have well-designed clothes distributed all over Japan and which products have the possibility to change the value of life. I can’t say too much about it yet since it hasn’t been announced officially. Hope you’ll be looking forward to it!
Watch below the video for FACETASM + New Documents – Fall/Winter 2021.
