When I was in elementary school, my family moved from a coastal town in Kobe to Hakuba village in Nagano Prefecture. We were literally living on a ski slope and my house was located right under a chairlift. We had to sledge down a hill first to go anywhere even to our nearby town. Since I joined a local ski team in 4th grade, skiing had became my first priority. Because everyone in the team was so talented, I had to practice a lot to catch up. The most interesting part of skiing is how to handle your body at top speed, and there is something in common with my current personal interest, surfing. Maybe I like sports that allow me to slide down a slope on a board.

The time I spent in the nature has been inspiring me as a designer. Now I make clothes that connect surfing and everyday life, and outfits worn in snowy mountains in winter, I often realize where everything is coming from I cannot explain it very well, but a lot of my design reflect how I live my life; enjoying both outdoor activities and work. Therefore, I often select my collection’s key colors from the nature.
As I grew up in the ski resort, Goldwin products have always been around in the field. I’ve found its design and colors unique and felt special a connection ever since.

Most of the clothes in KAPTAIN SUNSHINE collections are made with natural materials such as heavy wool fabric and thick cotton cloth. I like old things, not just with clothes but also furniture and camping gear. Those things are may not be easy to use, but the quaintness often makes up for it. I do love all the extra effort in maintaining those old gears. My approach may be opposite of what Goldwin has, but this collaboration come together as both Goldwin and I resonated in mutual creative perspectives on top of my childhood background growing up in Hakuba village.

What both of the brands have in common is never compromising on details and materials. I’ve always respected Goldwin’s logical, elaborate details that makes sense from all aspects. I’ve been designing clothes for KAPTAIN SUNSHINE with carefully-selected classical materials brought from all over the world. It’s sometimes challenging to develop a collection while repeating the same process each season. In the end, however, Goldwin and I could successfully launch a series of high-tech yet vintage looking ski wear by acknowledging each other’s strengths. Among the four collaboration items, all the outer garments have nylon surfaces, and feature either GORE-TEX® fabric or down as insulation. Some of jackets may need layering in some occasions but that’s also the fun of it.

While incorporating a military feel into the design, the outerwear maintains KAPTAIN SUNSHINE’s signature details such as armhole designs and oversized silhouettes. In order to combine such details and the latest GORE-TEX® fabric, we had to set appropriate design plans. Some include the angle and depth of each pocket, shape of pocket flaps and even orders in which part to stich first. The features necessary in winter mountains were added after several discussions with Goldwin. So, each of our collaborative items can be described as a fine merge of the high-tech properties of Goldwin products and the classical, old-school design of KAPTAIN SUNSHINE.

Because the purpose of ski wear is to let the user enjoy his time in an extraordinary environment, it has a unique demand, different from any other sports. I tried to make clothes that can be worn both in the city and nature, while integrating the needs of designing a ski wear. Going to ski resorts still makes me excited, just imaging loading my car, driving up the mountains, skiing down the slopes and spending the night at a lodge. I do hope our collection can bring light to this new lifestyle.