Cali Thornhill DeWitt and Haruka Hirata Chat About Collaborating
Discussing how they met, their Society clothing brand and more.
London’s Goodhood store has enlisted the help of Joe Warner to chat via Line with artist Cali Thornhill Dewitt and Haruka Hirata from Big Love Records about their new brand, Society. Inspired by Tokyo’s street signs and advertisements, the clothing highlights prints and graphics on staples like tees, sweatshirts and hoodies. When comparing A.Four with Society, designer Kazuki Kuraishi stated, “For the best quality, it is produced and printed in Japan. I’m thinking about doing small alterations every once in a while, like Levi’s back in the old days. It’s also something I create with three other people. A.Four is more about producing clothes, with various items.” Along with their label, the two discussed their creative inspirations, Los Angeles vs. Tokyo and what we can expect from them in the future. See some of the excerpts from the interview below and head over to Goodhood to read the full story.
JW: So you guys have known each other for ten years right? How did you first meet?
HARUKA: So I started stocking his records from his label ‘Teenage Teardrops’. He thought I was a boy for maybe five years until we wet in person. Well you don’t know Japanese girls name [laughing emoji]! We became very good friends after his first visit to Tokyo to do a show at Big Love, organised by Chiro. Chiro is an artist from Tokyo, she takes photos and organises punk/hardcore shows. She is loved by everyone in our community.
JW: Chiro [praying hands emoji]. Very cool. Haruka I’ve heard you refer to Cali affectionately as ‘father’. Where does that come from?
HARUKA: Well he is everyones father, in our community. He encourages young artists to work on their things. I am kind of literally calling him father, maybe! Without him I might not have had the courage to work on various things.
JW: Who are some of your favourite artists?
HARUKA: Aside from Cali, I love working with Emma Kohlmann. She’s a painter from New York, she uses water colour and sumi ink. Mostly naked humans with blurry faces.
CALI: My fave artists are friends. B Thom Stevenson, Emma Kohlmann, JTD, Brendan Fowler, Sonya Cohen, Maggie Lee, Peter Sutherland, Chiro Yoshikawa, Alexis Ross etc.
JW: What does 2017 have in store for you both?
HARUKA: Big Love will be having a lot of exhibitors/performers, and a lot of collabs coming up. I am excited to have James doing his solo show at our gallery space in April! Me personally, might DJ more and start making music! Getting back to where I came from.
CALI: 2017 plans…keep training for the final battle.
