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Encyclopedia of niime

Tamaki and Sakai. The origins of an unlikely collaboration.

2018 . 07 . 01

Unconventional thinking.  Without relying on the existing theory, pursuing our own quality methodology faithfully, to get the best out of oneself.  That is the point both Tamaki and Sakai have in common. Before ‘tamaki niime’ was born, they have been trying to understand each other even when they contradict; they appreciate each other and cover each other. It is the way they have walked together. This time, I’ll ask them about their path and combination. First of all, let me ask Tamaki to look back at the origins of her own creation.

– I heard that you had been taught from a neighbouring pattern maker since you were an elementary school student.

Tamaki
“I have enjoyed making clothing since I was a kid and I had a dream that I wanted to do it myself in the future.  But at that time it wasn’t so concrete yet. When I was wondering how to make my ideal clothes, I noticed that I had to know about patterns and sewing.  I figured those are techniques, skills. I needed to learn those skills. Once I set a goal, I’ll just run through it. I don’t give up easily. That’s how I was.  Since my parents ran a clothing shop and there were plenty of clothes around me, I had been creating my own insights into clothes. I fractionally understood that certain materials were comfortable or certain designs were more comfortable designs…so when I started thinking how to make it better, I had to make it by myself, not something already made. To make it by myself, I had to draw patterns and sew.  That’s how I learned when I was doing. When I talked to my mother, she said she had an acquaintance pattern maker. She asked them to teach me. When I wanted to do something, I figured out the necessary steps, and I learned because I was interested.”

From childhood, she seemed that she already set a clear goal and aimed to make her dream come true.
 I felt Tamaki’s power lying there. She also had an accurate viewpoint from an early stage to discern her own qualities.

Tamaki
“But I was not good at design sketches.  I vaguely thought that it would not be a designer but a pattern maker or a person who would create clothes. Since I can’t create something from nothing, I was unable to come up with designs.  That’s my case. I like thinking of arrangement, for example, changing the pattern to improve some of the parts of the clothes or using different materials that will make it tougher. That’s why I was considering to be a pattern maker rather than a designer.  I also recognized my lack of communication skills. Drawing is one way to communicate, isn’t it? I was not so good at sharing and explaining my ideas, which made it hard to ask someone to design them, so it was necessary to create with my own hands. It originated out of need.  When I first started creating and working with the Banshu-ori craftsman, I felt I didn’t have good communication skills, and would be easier if I did it on my own.”

– You have a hard time explaining your ideas to other people…

Tamaki
“Yes. I have a hard time outputting my image; something deformed in my head (laugh).  It might be difficult because it’s so complicated to put it into words. It’s somewhat three dimensional in my head; however, it seems to be very cheesy when I dropped it to the 2D dimension of a design picture worn by a female model…No! That’s not what I imagined. Just like that…there is a dilemma there.”

– To express the image in your head, you would rather struggle by using the fabrics themselves directly than following the procedure of design drawing. Isn’t it an aspect of the ‘experiment’ of Tamaki’s style?

Tamaki
“Yeah, exactly!  When it comes to a design on the paper, I feel somewhat different.   Once I make it, however, and if it has a bit different volume, I can modify it with my hands.  After all, it is much better to have a finished creation which is close to my original image.”

– You took away the existing system; design drawings, right?

Tamaki
“I thought that was not the best way for me.  My poor drawing skill was the major reason; however, Sakai made up for that part.”
Sakai
“Yeah.”
Tamaki
“During my vocational college, he was not a student, but when I was doing the assignment he was next to me.  I was not good, on the other hand, he was good at drawing. So he drew for me because he grasped the nuance of my little explanations.  When I saw his finished drawing, I felt ‘That’s it!’ Since I knew his sense of drawing, I showed him the way and made suggestions to him.  I tried hard as well because I had to, but he was better than me. When I mentioned the next assignment theme and vague, he drew easily and presented it to me…’Like this?’

– You already had a nice combination and working style to complete the task you had at that time.

Sakai
“We didn’t need to explain everything to each other.”
Tamaki
“Indeed.”
Sakai
“We can grasp the essential point with nuances, with each other. If Tamaki says the point, she doesn’t need to explain anything logically and tenaciously.”

– Quickly and easily.

Sakai
“When the shawls completed, I asked Tamaki what she wants to do next.  She said that she wanted to familiarise them with the men and women of all ages nationwide of Japan and then all over the world.  That’s all. That’s it. I hear her point, and I build up a method in my head. It’s been like that whole time.”

– It is not like “reading what someone is implying”. You can understand Tamaki ‘s intention quickly and leads to methodology, right?

Tamaki
“I don’t have communication skills, but he is superior, so he understands my words, and it builds up inside him.”
Sakai
“I don’t really read books, but I ask Tamaki to read and give me the summary.  After I hear the points, I can grasp the full picture. That always has the case.”
Tamaki
“After reading the book, I can also put it into myself by outputting it to him.  If I just read it, it’s only information. But I want to organise the parts I need for myself, so Sakai is the right partner to do this task with.  First, I list up the points quickly from the book and discuss the message, and then apply it to our company. That’s the process, and it reaches them.”

– You understand each other without talking, and in other words, it’s an irreplaceable partnership.

Tamaki
“In that sense, I think our direction heading to the goal is really close, but our abilities are entirely different. I don’t have a problem with reading many books.  Actually, I like extracting and adopting essential things from the extensive information that flows into me. I can marshal at certain points; however, when Sakai and I work together, we can examine and understand what is best for ‘tamaki niime’ and adapt. I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to read these books.”

Tamaki, who ponders extensively and questions herself regularly.  Sakai, who grasps the essentials quickly. They sometimes don’t hesitate to disagree with each other and have quarrels, other times, agree to their superior talents and identify with each other in no time.

Tamaki
“I’m always thinking. I want rationales; like reasons to live.  Sakai can find essence with surgical precision from the overflowing information.  I am not good at it. On the other hand, Sakai can only take out the raw stone; the most important source from the somewhat useful information. It is a sense in a way. When it comes to a role, he gets slightly more information of the world and the trend of the fashion industry than I from reading books. How he is continuously on the lookout for new information is weird.”

– You instead feel it ‘weird’ rather than ‘tremendous’? (laugh) Does it refer to the quality and nature of the information?

Tamaki
“I have kind of a personality that look into things deeply, but he is unusual in getting better information. When it comes to creation, I’m very deep.  If it is a big advantage for ‘tamaki niime’, I’m interested in it. But I’m not very interested in the common. It takes time and effort to get information. I would rather use the time for creation.  Since Sakai is not a creator, he grasps the information and has to drive to see what’s going on in the world so as to handle the branding of ‘tamaki niime’. So when it comes to collecting information, he is weird.”

– Have you started developing your ability; collecting information since branding the shawl as a significant part of ‘tamaki niime’?

Sakai
“Collecting information is kind of a hobby for me. It is like breathing rather than an obligation.”
Tamaki
“Observing people as well as branding. They are all natural for Sakai.”
Sakai
“I started observing people, for example, my parents and their friends, since I began to understand things as a child, as long as I remember.  I was very smart about not making my parents mad or figured out how to get my favourite things. I also gave some gifts to my mother purely out of kindness.  I enjoyed making my favourite people happy.”
Tamaki
“To make a person happy and get their attention, or to get something he wanted, he considered it strategically.  If that is Sakai’s natural talent, I believe that branding is really cut out for him. He observes and creates a methodology to make the brand remarkable.”
Sakai
“When I was young, relationships with people and friends were information tools for me. I scanned and absorbed it to understand deeply.”

– Weren’t you motivated to become an artist?

Sakai
“Not at all. When I try to say something cool, instead of creating or drawing on paper and canvas little by little, I regard myself as a painting material and the field; the world where I move around as a canvas. I’m not so sure if the movement I made is a concrete painting or an abstract painting as a result, but I suppose it is art.”

– That’s the way Sakai expresses as art.

Sakai
“Yes. I have brushed up my ability of expression by using my body and words. I’ve thinking who I should be connected and get information to improve myself.”

– Persuading Expressionist Art is the role of ‘tamaki niime’?

Sakai
“I think that I, myself is an artwork.  I’m not stagnant yet. I’m still updating, or I should say upgrading.”

– Branding ‘tamaki niime’ is one of the forms of your Expressionist Art. There is the need, and once it comes, you have decided that you would do with all your strength and heart as your expression.

Tamaki
“Both of us are not clearly distinguishing between on and off. However, I don’t want to sacrifice my life for work. I view our brand to be a way of enjoying my life. In that sense, how I experience and how he experiences are similar. The difference is that we use different tools. So everything is fine if it is good for the brand in the end.”

– You just have to discuss deeply with Sakai…?

Tamaki
“It is more like a battle.”

– You two have to discuss thoroughly to find the landing point without compromise.

Tamaki
“When we were still struggling to make the first shawl, I had a black-and-white view; if it is right or wrong. I thought I was right in my mind, but Sakai made me notice that I was not perfect for the first time. People usually don’t like arguing, so they end up compromising.  Like, ‘I know, I know, you are right…’ Even if you don’t think so, you say it because it is a solution, right? I was proud of my victory when I won the argument, but Sakai gave me an opportunity to notice that it was not good. Even if I say something fair, he doesn’t agree, and he argues back with his point 100%. I didn’t know anyone who seriously contends back until he did. Since I was not very interested in people, I expected everybody had the same ideas. Anyway, thanks to Sakai, I realised that the common sense in the world is ‘nonsense’.  Also, my common sense is not usual for other people, so my world is still small. That’s what I learned.”
Sakai
“Well, I initially didn’t care a bit about common sense. Tamaki taught me the fundamental principles of the world, rules and so on.”
Tamaki
“We were entirely in different worlds. My common sense and his didn’t match at all. However, by exchanging each information and shared them, we learnt new worlds and doubled the information we have. At the same time, we can see our possibilities and expanded our world. Like sharpening our brains together.”

By blending the opposite, yet unique two individuals; Tamaki and Sakai, the possibilities of ‘tamaki niime’ has extended in multiples.

Sakai
“We have different ways to express ourselves; however, we both are probably ‘philosophers’. We are thinking to expand our ideas deeply, highly and widely.
(To Tamaki) We are trying every day, right?”

(Tamaki nodded.)
Sakai
“It happens to be just an expression as a brand. We are not planning to write or discuss it like a so-called philosopher, but both of us are doing something consistently.”
Tamaki
“By discussing new information and ideas that I get from books and movies, we add our possibility and expand worldwide. That’s how we make feasible ideas come true as ‘tamaki niime’, for example, growing vegetables and food trial, and so on. We’ll have more and more to add to our brand.”

Original Japanese text by Seiji Koshikawa.
English translation by Adam & Michiko Whipple.