Dialogue - MITTAN -

In the shadow of the glamorous world of fashion

Do you know the background to the making of the clothes you are wearing now?

It is not a finished product, but a world in which you cannot see unless you take the time to look and see how it is made by different people's hands.

"I hope that clothes made with a proper background will be placed next to people's important memories."

That's what Takeshi Mitani, head of MITTAN, said.

During his high school years, he fell in love with the world of fashion, including Martin Margiela, and after studying fashion design at a vocational school, he worked for an apparel manufacturer. He gradually began to feel uncomfortable with the structure of the apparel industry, which anticipates market needs and creates new designs.

He says that behind the huge amounts of money that go into fashion production, he came to realize the sad reality that people in poor countries are being forced into unfair labor.

"I wanted to create something that wasn't like that. That feeling started to grow in me."

When Mitani first founded the brand in 2013, he was determined to move beyond the world of "individual designers" and "creating as an artist," and instead to work as a team or organization.

This is because we want to change the poor production conditions in the apparel industry, such as the profit-oriented planning and cost cutting, and the collapse of a building in Bangladesh that housed a sewing factory.

The meaning of continuing to create classic products

In any era, trends go in and out of fashion, and it is natural that the clothes people wear change over time. However, there are some clothes that continue to be worn.

"When you look at the world of ethnic clothing, it exists for reasons that are suited to the land and climate. Ethnic clothing doesn't change every season to match the trends, does it? But the Lenten people of Laos say that their ethnic clothing is the most comfortable and continue to wear it. I don't see any particular need to change that. I want to keep making classic items so that people can wear them for a long time."

MITTAN continues to create classic unisex items, aiming to create clothing that will last for a long time and not be swayed by the passing trends of the times.

Collection brands and the like change their suppliers every season, meaning sewing factories and the like are unable to see a stable profit. Because of the unstable ordering relationships, they continue to be forced to meet unreasonable delivery dates and prices.

By continuing to produce unisex staples in order to change that structure itself, we can continue to provide work to the clothing workshops and fabric factories that make our clothes.

Clothes that are made for the people who make them. As a result, they become clothes that are made for the people who wear them. Making clothes from deadstock fabrics in factories, i.e. resources that are already in stock, reduces the burden on the factory compared to producing them from scratch each season. Eventually, the item becomes a staple, and the more it is made, the more efficient the factory becomes. This allows the quality of each piece of clothing to be improved, such as by increasing its strength, while keeping the price low. Clothes made in this way can be worn with care even the year after they were purchased.

The reason we don't spend money on advertising or hold sales is to continue creating an environment where people can work steadily, rather than just have temporary relationships.

"We are conscious of the fact that as an organization, we act by continuing to supply a certain amount of clothes with designs that have a low impact on the environment and people and can be worn for a long time without being influenced by trends, at an affordable price rather than in very small quantities at a high price, as this is the production activity that will have the greatest impact on society and change the structure of the apparel industry."

There is always a person behind the clothes

From MITTAN's explanation site.
If you take good care of your clothes, they will last a long time.

At MITTAN, we repair and re-dye our products, regardless of when they were purchased, so that you can enjoy them for a long time.

Although repair services require time and effort, they charge a price that is closer to the cost price than regular repairs. This is also a sign of rebellion against the production process of the existing apparel industry.

"I've been doing this since the brand was founded, and when I find clothes that I want to wear again even if I had to have them repaired, it's a moment when I feel glad that I'm doing it. When I see the clothes being repaired, I get to interact with the customer's feelings and it's also a learning experience for me to improve how I make clothes, so I plan to continue doing this in the future."

The production process of a single garment involves a great deal of effort.

MITTAN's clothing website not only explains the designs, but also clearly states the people involved in dyeing, weaving, and how the clothes are made, thereby continuing to convey the background of the clothes.

Mitani says that there is always someone behind the clothes that are made.

It is said that ignorance of the production process is what leads to the problem of waste.

"In the past, there were no ready-made clothes, so I think there was a time when families made their own clothes by sewing. Going back even further, we grew our own clothes. Nowadays, if something is torn or has a hole in it, we stop wearing it right away, so it feels like we don't throw away clothes for a long time. Some people may think that we don't need to treasure things if we don't know the production process. But we don't throw away things that were made by people close to us, do we? Knowing the background makes it more familiar to us. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing not to know, but as long as we're making things, I think it's important to create opportunities to learn and continue to pass on information."

A comfort that can only be conveyed through touch

The "MITTAN Exhibition" will be held from October 3rd. At this exhibition, you can wear clothes that have been specially made to order with a utsushi design.

At the MITTAN exhibition, we will be selling coffee beans and chocolate from Kaburagi, a coffee shop in Asakusa, Tokyo. Please enjoy the flavors created by Kaburagi, who regularly wears MITTAN clothing as his uniform.

We want you to experience the comfort of the garment against your skin when you wear it, which can only be conveyed by actually handling and touching it.