Style Resume Saito Hisao #07

When the pants I designed became a hit, the company decided to start making jeans. This was around the time BIG JOHN had started in Okayama, or just before that. I was asked by a New York representative of Itochu to go and buy denim fabric, so I went to Cone Mills and bought a huge number of meters of 14-ounce denim. I think it was about 70,000 meters. After all, we needed tens of thousands of pieces of fabric. I also went to the West Coast at this time, and ordered fabrics with prints, stripes, and other flashy patterns there.

The fabrics purchased in America are much more expensive than the price I paid at the company I worked for. I wanted to buy the fabrics, but I didn't want to make a decision on the spot. I wanted to go back to Tokyo and check with my superiors before making a response. I asked if I could make it cheaper that way, and I said I would bring it back, and they replied, "Mr. Saito, you're here to buy it on behalf of the company, right? You should be the one to settle the payment. We have to think about how to add value to fashion and sell it at a high price, so what do you mean by asking us to make it cheaper?" That's right. From their point of view, it's only natural that they thought, "What are you doing here?" The trading company staff made various excuses, but I didn't have anything to say in response. I was completely crushed. I realized that even though I was buying expensive clothes from Italy and France, I didn't understand anything at all.