Whether it's fashion, music, or sports, there is a style that only each person can bring out in any genre. "Style is Everything." That's right, someone said that style is everything. "Style Resume" is a series of interviews with adults who literally have style. Updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the fourth installment traces the life story of Katsuyuki Yoshida, founder of Porter Classic.
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1. I was influenced by movies when I was in elementary school.
My father (Yoshida Yoshizo) ran a bag shop (Yoshida Bag Manufacturing, later Yoshida Co., Ltd.) in Higashi-Kanda, so I was always surrounded by a manufacturing environment. When I went to see craftsmen at work as a child, I was often told off for being dangerous. I was young at the time, so I didn't think much of the family business, but I still remember my father and mother as hard workers who worked hard.
I hated studying since I was in elementary school, but my mother often took me to the movies. I loved movies. I saw Disney's early film "The Desert Is Alive" (released in Japan in 1955) at the Imperial Theater. I was surprised by this. It was dozens of times more useful than school.
In Higashi-Kanda, there was a movie theater called "Torigoe Romance-za" and I used to go there by myself. They showed six Western movies. I enjoyed watching movies all day long while sucking on the dried squid that my mother gave me. Through these movie experiences, I became interested in food, clothing and shelter.
We lived in a normal Japanese house with a store on the first floor and living space on the second floor, but my mother had worked as a maid for the ambassador to the UK before she got married, and as a way of preparing to become a bride, we had quite stylish meals. Looking back, I think we lived a Western-style life for that time. However, it wasn't until I entered junior high school that I really started to take an interest in foreign cultures.
Profile
Katsuyuki Yoshida (CEO of Porter Classic)
Born in 1947, he was the first Japanese to be selected as a member of the New York Designers Collective in 1981. In 2007, he founded Porter Classic with his son, Reo Yoshida, and continues to create products that are "Made in Japan," such as sashiko culture.
HP: https://porterclassic.com/
Instagram: @porterclassic_official
