French label ‘Kitsuné’, post music establishment, is developing its fashion path. Its debut store opened in Paris recently, completed with music, clothing and home ware. Kitsuné makes electronic dance music, but its clothing is contrastingly subtle. Multi-faceted-ness appears to be the nature of Kitsuné.
SILLY THING and ‘WAD’ magazine co-hosted their Christmas party ‘Kitsuné Maison 6 Tour: What A Different X’mas — Kitsuné is Coming to Town’ in 2008. Kitsuné is founded by Japanese designer Masaya Kuroki and French musician Gildas Loaëc in 2001. Based in London and Paris, its members also include quartet design team ‘Abake’. The label released many remix dance music in the beginning, and then became a music label which releases albums and promotes electronic bands. Fashion and design comes later. Their recent collaborators include Air, Daft Pink, Towa Tei, A.P.C., Dior Homme, Hussein Chalayan, Martin Margiela, Colette and SONY. Their fashion collection will make a debut in New York Fashion Week in 2009.
Text: Ron Lam | Translation: dilettante | Photo: Chan Kin Wai
TS: THINK SILLY
G: GILDAS
M: MASAYA
TS: How did the name ‘Kitsuné’ come about? Is it something to do with the Japanese legend?
M: Kitsuné means fox in English. In Japanese culture, fox is described to have many identities. We make clothes, music and even shoes. Therefore we show many creative sides through Kitsuné. The name is fitting really.
TS: Masaya started the idea of clothing collection. How did it become part of Kitsuné, as opposed to his own label?
G: Why not? We wanted to do something together.
M: There is no special reason to speak of, as a company. We opened a store in Paris. Be it clothing or custom-made shirts or something else, they head to the same direction. It is like there are different departments within a company. I never thought of using another name. Ever since we established Kitsuné, we wanted to something more than music.
TS: Kitsuné captures a very contrasting style to its music and clothing. Its clothing is a surprise for some, because it is not the ‘party wear’ some might expect, but like something found in a gentleman’s wardrobe.
M: Visually yes, it seems a bit different. We are growing old.
TS: No, we think you look very elegant.
M: The music and clothing of Kitsuné are different. As an electronic music label, we could have just designed T-shirts and oversized trousers, which would be the easy option. But we are more into doing something different. Be it music or clothing, we pursue excellence in them. In the beginning, we made polo shirt, cashmere items and jeans. Now we make more outerwear such as jacket and wool sweater. Nevertheless we still continue to stock what we designed many years ago. We want something that last for a long time, and the same goes with our music. Only the best would last.
TS: What is the relationship between fashion and music?
G: They are mutually influential. If you like a band, it is likely that you like their style too. Most bands wear what goes with their music, and musicians wear designer items with similar allure. The way music links to fashion is like a family. Musician shows their style on the stage through clothing. Even a simple T-shirt, they would cut it into a different shape. Since 1960S may be, even Beach Boy customized their jeans and shoes. Both music and fashion are essential elements to build a style, therefore they are linked together. Hip Hop is influential to music and fashion since 1980S, for example.
M: I suppose everyone has the need to belong to a crowd, so they wear a similar style to identify that. It could be something that looks like what their favourite band wears.
TS: Who is your music icon?
G: Serge Gainsbourg. Kitsuné is like him in a way, for being true in their lives. Serge is one of the first musicians to use electronic instruments, such as drum beats. He would also place Reggae elements in his music, for example. Like him, we only make music we like.
M: Serge Gainsbourg is an excellent artist.
TS: Being a frequent in Japan, how do you compare its club scene to Paris?
G: It is much easier to listen to music from all over the world since internet and Myspace became popular. We like to search for new music on the internet too. One could say because of globalization, club scene in the two places became very similar. Everyone wears tight jeans and T-shirt.
TS: I heard that Parisian clubbers are very good at dressing up.
G: Talking about dressing up, I think London is the best. There is a long music history there, and everyone is into dressing up when they go out, despite of the size of the party. We performed in London a few months ago. There were about a thousand six hundred people and each of them has a unique style. Some might seem slightly over the top, but they make an effort to look different from the others.
TS: DJ-ing is a tough task, one has to multi-task with all the machines. But you seem to have time to look at the people on the dance floor?
M: We need to really concentrate if there are five, six thousand people. But if there are only two hundred people, then we can relax a bit. People-watching is definitely vital to our job, because we need to pay attention to their reaction to the music, if they are bored with a song, for example.
TS: What skill would you say is essential to be a DJ?
M: To be able to observe the crowd.
G: To pay attention to the crowd and see if they like Kitsuné’s choice. Sometimes we play indie music, to that some people like it, and some others would be confused. People go out to listen to music they like, so a DJ needs to capture their attention.
TS: Having performed in places all over the world, like Korea, Japan and New York, how do you deal with the difference in music taste in various locations?
G: Like I said before, the appearance of internet makes a globalized taste in music. I think we are lucky in a sense that people come to see us, so they know Kitsuné music style already.
TS: Back to home town Paris. What is the best thing about it?
M: Paris is an extremely beautiful city.
G: Paris is dashing. But it is so hard to find taxi at night! It drives me crazy to be walking on the street 3am after a party, unable to find a taxi. Especially for girls, because they are in heels mostly. In New York and Asia, taxi is very easy to find. If there are more taxis on night shift then life in Paris would instantly be better for us.
