Walk into Opening Ceremony New York this weekend and you'll be in for a treat: a giant wall of patchwork leather and a team of Japanese designers teaching you how to sand down jackets until they're perfectly soft and worn. This is our Generation Tokyo pop-up, featuring labels BLACKMEANS and SASQUATCHFABRIX. The shop-in-shop stocked with exclusive leather items (cowhide origami, anyone?) launches today, and on Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 6 PM, the designers will put on a special workshop to show how they take a leather jacket and make it something truly unique.
The two teams came over for NYFW to participate in LEATHER JAPAN, an exhibition at the Thomas Erben Gallery celebrating the history of leather goods made in Japan. But what is it about leather that blackmeans and SASQUATCHfabrix. love so much? It all started with punk music. "These two brands are good friends, and are both really into crust-core and punk music," Satoshi Niibori from blackmeans explained. "Yujiro [Komatsu, a designer for blackmeans] is like the guru of punk. It's his soul." Yujiro chimed in: "I've loved punk music since I was 12 years old. When I was 16, I started working part time and saved up to buy my first leather jacket. I then started working at a legendary punk shop that no longer exists and started customizing jackets." Yujiro still owns his first jacket and wears it constantly (see his portrait on the left), and he's been working with leather ever since. At the now defunct label 20471120, Yujiro met his future blackmeans partners. After the label disbanded, blackmeans launched in 2008, backed by a leather garment factory.
Since, blackmeans has worked often with SASQUATCHfabrix. on collections, exhibitions, and pop-ups. SASQUATCHfabrix. creates clothes that seem more suited for a walk in the park than a pit at a punk show, but both teams of designers pride themselves on experimenting with classic shapes, using unique materials and workwear details. Experimentation is key, and a certain national pride comes into play as well. "They both realize the importance of expressing Japanese mentality through their designs." Satoshi said. "The inspiration comes from traditional Japanese products." Which is why at the pop-up you'll find objects such as beautiful leather origami cranes—traditional method, experimental means.
Photos by Lina Michal
GENERATION TOKYO AT OPENING CEREMONY
Feb 6–Feb 16, 2014
33 Howard St.
New York, NY 10013
Mon–Sat 11am–8pm | Sun 12pm–7pm
The blackmeans and SASQUATCHfabrix workshop will run Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 6 PM
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Yujiro Komatsu, one the designers at blackmeans
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Takatomo 'ANI' Ariga of blackmeans![]()
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The two teams came over for NYFW to participate in LEATHER JAPAN, an exhibition at the Thomas Erben Gallery celebrating the history of leather goods made in Japan. But what is it about leather that blackmeans and SASQUATCHfabrix. love so much? It all started with punk music. "These two brands are good friends, and are both really into crust-core and punk music," Satoshi Niibori from blackmeans explained. "Yujiro [Komatsu, a designer for blackmeans] is like the guru of punk. It's his soul." Yujiro chimed in: "I've loved punk music since I was 12 years old. When I was 16, I started working part time and saved up to buy my first leather jacket. I then started working at a legendary punk shop that no longer exists and started customizing jackets." Yujiro still owns his first jacket and wears it constantly (see his portrait on the left), and he's been working with leather ever since. At the now defunct label 20471120, Yujiro met his future blackmeans partners. After the label disbanded, blackmeans launched in 2008, backed by a leather garment factory.
Since, blackmeans has worked often with SASQUATCHfabrix. on collections, exhibitions, and pop-ups. SASQUATCHfabrix. creates clothes that seem more suited for a walk in the park than a pit at a punk show, but both teams of designers pride themselves on experimenting with classic shapes, using unique materials and workwear details. Experimentation is key, and a certain national pride comes into play as well. "They both realize the importance of expressing Japanese mentality through their designs." Satoshi said. "The inspiration comes from traditional Japanese products." Which is why at the pop-up you'll find objects such as beautiful leather origami cranes—traditional method, experimental means.
Photos by Lina Michal
GENERATION TOKYO AT OPENING CEREMONY
Feb 6–Feb 16, 2014
33 Howard St.
New York, NY 10013
Mon–Sat 11am–8pm | Sun 12pm–7pm
The blackmeans and SASQUATCHfabrix workshop will run Saturday and Sunday from 3 to 6 PM
Yujiro Komatsu, one the designers at blackmeans
Takatomo 'ANI' Ariga of blackmeans
