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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2. When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with imported goods.
I went to Gyosei from junior high school, and at that time I went to cinemas in Hibiya that showed first-run foreign films, such as Hibiyaza and Yurakuchoza, and watched movies like The Guns of Navarone and Ben-Hur. In the Sanshin Building in Hibiya (now demolished, the site is now part of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya), there was a general store that sold imported goods, and that's where I first encountered LACOSTE, and had a chocolate milkshake at a cafe restaurant called New World Service. In this way, I had more opportunities to actually come into contact with things from overseas. My older brother (Shigeru Yoshida, former president of Yoshida Co., Ltd., now deceased), who was about 10 years older than me, also knew a lot about such things, and he would take me to them.
My father sent my brother to Italy to study. This was in 1960. At that time, my brother had bought many GUCCI bags and other items, and there were many of them on his bed. My parents said, "If you buy so many bags, our company will go bankrupt," but they also said, "You bought some nice things." I thought his sensibility was amazing, and I was also impressed by the taste of my brother in choosing his items.
Around this time, I started buying clothes at the stores in the Sanshin Building or at Ameyoko. The quality of the clothes at Ameyoko varies widely, so I thought it was up to me to choose whether I could find something nice. I think that because of these experiences, I began to think in my later years that I wanted to die surrounded by Japanese-made items.
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
