Japanese label Kaptain Sunshine settles down in Tokyo
The brand’s long-awaited flagship combines good architecture with attractive product design.
It has been a short two weeks after a lively opening party and business is brisk at Kaptain Sunshine’s new Tokyo flagship. Designer Shinsuke Kojima is on the shop floor as a trio of young South Korean tourists, a dapper Japanese gent and a pair of well-dressed Tokyo friends are all browsing and buying. Clearly the word is out that the brand has opened its first standalone shop. “We’re happy with how it’s going,” says Kojima, surveying the throng. “A third of the customers are coming from overseas.”
To those in the know, Kaptain Sunshine is simply one of the best brands to have come out of Japan, having mastered the kind of smart-casual wardrobe that Tokyoites are always celebrated for. The label’s success is down to Kobe-born Kojima, who started the brand in 2013, to indulge his passion for vintage uniforms and relentless eye for detail. He manufactures everything in Japan and favours original fabrics made to his specifications. His most recent spring/summer collection, currently in store, includes garments such as field shirt-jackets in deliciously light cotton-polyester mixes, garment-dyed work jackets in hemp and cotton, and military trainers in white leather.
Every piece is connected to a different maker in Japan. Denim comes from Okayama and Hiroshima; leather purses and belts are made in Tokyo and Kamakura; and hand-finished silk squares are made with fabric from Yamanashi. The detail in the denim is something else: a 13.5oz selvedge, dyed with pure indigo and woven on an old-fashioned loom to give the uneven texture that Kojima likes. “We give the factories highly detailed sewing instructions to ensure a one-of-a-kind line-up that we take pride in,” he says.
There are stories woven into every piece – and fashion fans lap them up. But Kaptain Sunshine also happens to be the easiest brand to wear. “We’re using high-quality materials and precision sewing but this is everyday wear that can be washed without worry and dried in the sun,” says Kojima. “We’re thinking about comfort, even when travelling.” Some basic garments, such as the Okayama-made blue denim trousers and T-shirts, inspired by American vintage, appear every season. There are collaborations too, from nylon bucket hats co-designed with the brand Kijima Takayuki to suede shoes crafted with Paraboot.
Kojima is equally passionate about vintage furniture, which becomes immediately evident in the shop’s interiors, designed alongside Fukuoka architect Koichi Futatsumata. The store is on a quiet street just off Kotto Dori in Aoyama and is filled with Kojima’s finds: French rope chairs from the 1950s, a 17th-century English chest, an Okinawan pot that’s several hundred years old. There’s a rare wall-mounted Dieter Rams for Braun hi-fi from the 1960s playing, when Monocle visits, some mellow jazz. Like the brand’s signature garments, the retail space’s overall look is relaxed rather than laboured.
This laid-back approach appeals to the label’s core male clientele – and, increasingly, to a new crop of in-the-know female clients too. “We make clothes in four sizes so that anyone can wear them,” says Kojima. “We just want everyone with a sense of style to see our collection.” With the new Tokyo flagship and a twice-yearly trunk show in Paris, his message is certainly getting through.
kaptainsunshine.com
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