Tadayuki Kato's mental index.
<Pa> Parachute pants

2026.1.31

Photo： Tadayuki Kato

Edit： Naoya Tsuneshige

COLUMN

Doing what you love and being surrounded by things you love. Beams' famous buyer, Kato Tadayuki, is a rare hobbyist. As a result of constantly keeping his antennae up in all sorts of genres, the number of people, things and things that interest him is immeasurable. If Kato Tadayuki's mind were to be put into a book, the index would probably look something like this. The third installment is "Pa = Parachute Pants."

With great respect.

Houyhnhnm

The third theme was "parachute pants." To be honest, I was surprised to hear this word come out of Kato-san's mouth.

Kato

Is that so? In fact, it's not an exaggeration to say that they are my roots. For me, when I think of pants, I think of "parachute pants." That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I've worn them a lot, and I still wear them often.

Houyhnhnm

Sorry, I guess I didn't observe enough (laughs). As for the roots, was there any particular trigger?

Kato

When I was a student, I saw the Beastie Boys wearing it in a video clip and I was blown away by how cool it looked.

Houyhnhnm

That was what prompted him to start looking for it and get it.

Kato

That's how I got interested in them, but what led me to buy them was Good Enough, and Skateboarder was the one wearing them.

Genuine military-style outfits are hard to wear because they're all-in-one. I get hot easily, after all. But I saw a pair of pants with the top and bottom separated from each other at Good Enough, and I thought the navy one Skate Shiner was wearing at the time was so cool. I actually wanted the navy one too, but I couldn't get my hands on it, so I bought the beige one.

I got the GOODENOUGH G-FLIGHT I when I was a student.

Houyhnhnm

"Good enough" and Skate Shin are keywords that always come up when talking about Kato.

Kato

I was really influenced by the parachute pants from GOODENOUGH. You could even say that they are the starting point of my current craftsmanship.

I run a brand called SSZ, and when I think about it, I think that the double pockets on the front and the playful arrangement of zippers and pockets were heavily influenced by Good Enough back then.

Houyhnhnm

Now that you mention it, that's certainly true. What is it about it that attracts you?

Kato

I think it's the zipper gimmick. The zipper at the hem makes it tapered, so the hem doesn't drag when wearing shoes like Converse or Vans. Also, the fact that there are lots of pockets makes it look really cool.

Houyhnhnm

The "G-FLIGHT" series from Good Enough at that time is now priced at a premium.

Kato

As far as I know, there are three series, from 1st to 3rd, and I got my hands on the first and second ones when I was a student. I continued to follow them even after joining Beams, and I would ask my acquaintances to buy them for me and collect them.

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