Masafumi Watanabe: The Gentleman’s Way | Hypebeast

We’ve seen New York City be the focus of Bedwin’s campaigns on a few occasions, what is it about New York you really like and appreciate?

New Yorkers have a great sense of style and energy to their street fashion. I think New York is the easiest place find all the different variants of street fashion. That’s what I appreciate about the city. I love traveling there to check out what people are wearing on the streets. I love bringing the ideas I have and offering them up in the cities I travel to. One thing I appreciate is seeing how those ideas translate in different cultures and contexts.

From our understanding, you spent a part of your life in London. How does this come about and what effect does it have on your current work and inspirations?

To put it simply, my experiences in London gave me a certain and particular meaning to my life. From living in London, I started to realize that it was important to experience different cultures and styles and share them with others. I suppose you could say that’s my main purpose in life. London gave that to me and for me it’s the most international city in the world.

What are some of your personal favorite brands, both in and outside of fashion?

To be honest, the thing I’m most interested is nationality and culture. I want to know where something is from, who the people are behind it and what kind of culture they were brought up in.

Last year we saw your participation in the BLACK SENSE MARKET… how did this opportunity come about and what was the inspiration behind your design?

That’s a collaboration we did with a Japanese magazine called SENSE. The chief editor of SENSE is an old friend of mine, Satoshi Moriya. He likes to wear black clothes and asked me to be part of the project. Obviously I took him up on the offer and made several pieces for him. He’s a great guy.

On a retail level, are you interested in opening your own BEDWIN flagship store?

For sure, I would love to open a store one day. But on that note, there has to be a good reason for doing so.

Anything you would like to add or say to our readers?

Thank you for your support. I love making clothes for you!