Style Resume Saito Hisao #08

I went to America to buy denim fabric when I was 25 years old, and when I made a product out of it under the brand name "Westrider," it didn't sell at all at first. I thought this was because I wasn't promoting it enough, so I made posters and ran radio commercials through acquaintances. Nobu (Takahashi Nobuyuki, music producer) was in charge of the music for the radio commercial, thanks to Mie's (Ito Mie, founder of WAG) "BUZZ SHOP," and Nobu, Mie's younger brother Yukihiro (Takahashi Yukihiro, musician and fashion designer, now deceased), and Takanaka (Takanaka Masayoshi, musician) were in charge of the performances.

Around this time, I got married, had children, and got busy with work, so I stopped going out at night for a while. Some of the products I planned for work were hits, but others didn't sell at all and ended up in a pile of returns. It was a big help when Teijin, a business partner, introduced me to a sales channel, saying, "Saito-san's clothes will sell." They also introduced me to a lot of different people.

Even though I released a hit product, I didn't get a bonus, but my salary increased due to the income doubling plan at that time, and I was able to make a living. I didn't do anything bad, like taking a kickback from the fabric store, which some people around me were doing. So, I decided to quit the company at the age of 28. Looking back, it was a fruitful six and a half years, learning about production and costs and building connections with business partners.