F.I.L. Hong Kong 1st Anniversary - Interview with Hiroki Nakamura

In a shopping landscape originally altered by the arrival of a flagship Bape retailer approximately two years ago, the Hong Kong market has enjoyed an influx of some of Japan’s most popular labels as they create a powerful fashion community around the Central dstrict. A brand with unrivaled popularity in Hong Kong, Visvim founded its first F.I.L. outside of Japan one year ago. In a celebration of this occasion, we took the opportunity to interview Visvim founder Hiroki Nakamura regarding not only his insights on Hong Kong but also the future developments of F.I.L. around the world. Also included in this feature are first hand accounts of the Folk Bear Foot FBT Shaman and a patchwork Ballistic 20 liter pack set to release exclusively at F.I.L. Hong Kong.

710 0 Comments

In a shopping landscape originally altered by the arrival of a flagship Bape retailer approximately two years ago, the Hong Kong market has enjoyed an influx of some of Japan’s most popular labels as they create a powerful fashion community around the Central dstrict. A brand with unrivaled popularity in Hong Kong, Visvim founded its first F.I.L. outside of Japan one year ago. In a celebration of this occasion, we took the opportunity to interview Visvim founder Hiroki Nakamura regarding not only his insights on Hong Kong but also the future developments of F.I.L. around the world. Also included in this feature are first hand accounts of the Folk Bear Foot FBT Shaman and a patchwork Ballistic 20 liter pack set to release exclusively at F.I.L. Hong Kong.

Hello Hiroki, first off congratulations on F.I.L. Hong Kong’s 1st anniversary. Why did you choose Hong Kong as the location for your first flagship store outside of Japan.
We’ve always had very strong and loyal customer support in Hong Kong, so it was an easy decision for us to make F.I.L. Hong Kong our first international retail location. It is of the utmost importance for us to interact directly with our customers and provide them with the best possible service, and F.I.L. stores offer the most efficient vehicle by which to do this, so we were enthusiastic when the opportunity arose to transplant an F.I.L. to Hong Kong. We hope that Hong Kong customers are equally as happy to have us in HK as we are to be there.

What are your opinions of Hong Kong?
It is a very fast-moving and energetic city. It’s modern and contemporary, but offers hints and traces of very old Chinese culture and history. It’s interesting to see how traditional culture still has relevance and influence on present Hong Kong society.

How does Hong Kong compare with Tokyo?
Well, being Japanese I obviously feel more at home in Tokyo, but Hong Kong is a nice place to visit and explore. It seems very international; walking through the streets you see people from all over the world, speaking many different languages, and interacting with each other by finding the language of least resistance. And of course it’s always a pleasant surprise when some of them are wearing Visvim…



How does Hong Kong inspire you?
Of all the potentially inspiring places in Hong Kong, I always find myself most influenced by the brief glimpses of old Chinese culture. Hong Kong’s history as an international port and trading hub have made it an interesting hybrid of Cantonese and Chinese culture mixed with western culture, so just being in that environment, if even temporarily, is inspiring to me.

What are your favorite destinations in Hong Kong?
I have a few Hong Kong style dim sum restaurants that I always make a point of visiting when I’m in town, and of course F.I.L. is a destination…

What sort of products will you be releasing to mark this anniversary?
For the anniversary we’re releasing two special products: the FBT Bear Foot Shaman, which is from our FOLK collection, and a patchwork Ballistic 20 liter pack.

What is the concept behind these products?
The concept for these items hasn’t strayed from that of our other product, or from the ideas behind Visvim, but for our anniversary we wanted to release versions of a few products that have been special to us from previous seasons, and have remained special since their original release.

Do you have plans to open further stores in the United States and across the world?
We don’t have any plans at the moment but we’re always interested in opening more F.I.L. stores. As mentioned before, it’s very important for us to have good relationships with our customers and to communicate our product message effectively to them, so naturally opening F.I.L. stores would help achieve those goals. But we’re very happy with our present stores, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the future…

Continue reading for F.I.L. Hong Kong 1st Anniversary items…


Visvim Folk Bear Foot FBT Shaman


Visvim Folk Bear Foot FBT Shaman


Visvim Folk Bear Foot FBT Shaman


Visvim Folk Bear Foot FBT Shaman


Visvim Folk Bear Foot FBT Shaman


Visvim Patchwork Ballistic 20 Liter Pack

Read Full Article

What to Read Next

Nomadic x CLOT Military Hat

Nomadic x CLOT Military Hat

Earlier this year, many of us were introduced to Nomadic via a collaboration with well known Hong Kong brand CLOT on a trucker cap. The two have come together once again to create a military inspired flat top cap in black. The cap features a combination logo incorporating both Nomadic and the CLOT logo. Available now at select retailers around Asia such as Sense Organ
By /
951   0 Comments
Visvim 2008 Spring/Summer Latest Apparel Release

Visvim 2008 Spring/Summer Latest Apparel Release

Visvim has released some new pieces from their 2008 spring/summer collection. Many of the pieces feature one of Visvim’s most prominent fabrics in Giza45 cotton, known for its soft feel and desirable properties. The 5-Nation button up seen here follows up on Visvim’s ongoing homage to Native American culture. Source: Re In Force
By /
299   0 Comments
Hiroshi Fujiwara x adFunture Figure

Hiroshi Fujiwara x adFunture Figure

Since 2002 toy-makers adFunture has given the opportunity to the world’s creatives as they set forth in producing art and design in three dimensional art form. Amongst their creations is a figure of Hiroshi Fujiwara featuring attire relating to some of HF’s most pronounced accomplishments including HF x Staple 10th Anniversary T-shirt, Fenom Denim, Nike Air Force 1 HTM Fragment Design sneakers and on the fashion front, his trademark Kangol. Source: jeffstaple
By /
260   0 Comments
Bape LA Opening Party

Bape LA Opening Party

After month’s of speculation, Bape Los Angeles has finally opened its doors. A huge round up of celebrities were in attendance including Mike “Quote Machine” Tyson, NERD, Dr. Romanelli, Kaws, Takashi Murakami and of course above all else Nigo. The store’s decor is marked by traditional Bape influences including the sneaker conveyor belt, neon lighting and liberal use of camo prints. Source: SuperTouch, HomeRoom
By /
122   0 Comments
CLOT x 3Mix x How2work Disney Toy Soldier

CLOT x 3Mix x How2work Disney Toy Soldier

Touching upon the blockbuster animated franchise Toy Story, Hong Kong’s CLOT has teamed up with Disney to create a fully articulate and poseable 12 inch Sarge in black. The toy is constructed of soft vinyl emulating a realistic toy feeling. Black Sarge comes complete with special packaging and the statement “Leave no man behind” with special sticker. Releasing April 26th with a suggested price of $880 HKD (approximately $100 USD). Juice 2/F A, 53 Patterson Street Causeway Bay, Hong Kong p: 852.2881.0173
By /
746   0 Comments
Air Jordan 1 "Father's Day"
Footwear

Air Jordan 1 "Father's Day"

The Air Jordan 1 has undergone a series of themes in the last few months which will luckily culminate in an anticipated OG colorway release later on this year. However for the time being, from recent army inspirations, a “Father’s Day” model has been slated to release in June. The black/white upper features a clear Swoosh and herringbone like materials along the side and toebox. Estimated release date is June 7th, in time for Father’s Day approximately a week later. Source: Sneaker News, Shoes House Kuze
By /
599   0 Comments
HUF 2008 Spring/Summer Collection

HUF 2008 Spring/Summer Collection

Keith Hufnagel has previewed HUF’s upcoming collection for spring/summer. The San Francisco retailer has developed strength and momentum with each passing season, with these latest previews showing no doubt the maturity and direction of arguably one of the industries biggest in-house labels. Stay tuned for a further information including the rumored opening of an upcoming HUF in the Los Angeles area.
By /
0   0 Comments
FUCT 2008 Spring/Summer Collection Preview

FUCT 2008 Spring/Summer Collection Preview

Here’s an upcoming look at FUCT’s first three tees as part of their “Killing For Peace…” collection. The aesthetics for this collection revolve around some new techniques including water based inks and wet printing techniques to create a vintage cartoon style. Fuct founder Erik Brunetti will continue to release more upcoming designs within the next few days.
By /
210   0 Comments
Roen x Medicom Toy Guitar Mickey

Roen x Medicom Toy Guitar Mickey

Within Japan, it appears as though Disney approached a series of labels on different projects ranging from apparel to toys and accessories. Fashion label Roen is amongst the few to interpret the iconic Mickey Mouse character in toy form. The large scale figure features a guitar smashing Mickey. Source: Cliffedge
By /
953   0 Comments
The Return of Prodigy

The Return of Prodigy

The shock factor of Gangster rap has been eroded for more than a decade now. The listening public is no longer appalled and pleasured by the unabashed mentioning of automatic weapons and the sale of illegal pharmaceuticals as we once were. The shtick has become so common place that we now have come to expect it. However, every now and then a veteran comes along and challenges our perception of the genre and actually makes it dangerous again. Prodigy of Mobb Deep was once considered musically dead by several musical critics. His vivid street analysis seemed to wane over the years and his pairing with the polarizing G-unit crew seemed to turn off some lifelong fans. However, with a new concentrated focus and a more precise brutal delivery Prodigy has picked up where he left off with his mixtape offering last year “Return of the Mac”. His current release “H.N.I.C 2” is some of the grimiest, nihilistic gangster rap you will hear this entire year. P’s flow has become less complicated and straighter to the point adding to the gritty realism of his current release. Also his paranoid conspiracy theorist persona that was delivered in early Mobb albums is not only back in full force it dictates the tone of the entire album. Sonically, Alchemist takes the brunt of the production and masterfully lays down eerie tracks for P to brutalize. Maybe its Ps current jail sentence or his frantically weird new blog postings that makes the listener believe every word he says on the album. Either way, I dare you to turn on “Veteran’s Memorial” and not get shivers up your spine. H.N.I.C indeed.
By /
191   0 Comments
More ▾