Blue jeans, bandanas, natives-inspired knitwear. Kapital rewrites tradition and gives life to masterpieces of exceptional complexity and subtle charm.
Kojima is not just a jeans district. It is imbued with something mysterious, invisible. The atmosphere exudes ancestral and placid vibes. It is the place where history reinvents itself and wisdom shapes some of the highest examples of craftsmanship. These are the roots of Kapital. The name expresses a lot about the kind of relationship that Toshikiyo and Kiro Hirata have with the indigo dyed textile. They founded their own brand in 1996 in what is regarded as the Japanese capital of denim. An ode, a spiritual bond. Both father and son share the same destiny: an irresistible infatuation with Americana and vintage in general developed during their stay in the US. Since then they follow the sacred rules of classic workwear and subvert them at the same time.
Blue jeans, bandanas, natives-inspired knitwear. Kapital rewrites tradition and gives life to masterpieces of exceptional complexity and subtle charm. The most absurd fantasies are surpassed: art, avantgarde. While spreading globally, the mantra remains the same. Expertise, inventiveness. To repeat again and again, with the aim of widening the horizons and materialising endless new concepts, related with the present and even more with the future. There is a sort of solemn dignity in permanently keeping to a path and evolving along the way.
It is like a movie by Peter Greenaway, where the progressive repetition of similar schemes generates deep intensity by itself. Kapital is a religion without dogmas, a struggle of opposites. The productive process follows the pillars of vintage denim, while everything around them collapse and contradicts them. Patchwork, marquetry, multilayered constructions, alien finishes.
The vitality of each collection reveals the intention of occupying a unique space in the industry and does not hide the urgent need of whispering an original vision, human and vibrant. All of this is filtered through an extremely relaxed attitude of self-discovery. This is what distinguish most the brand. Not pretending to exactly know why is doing something, simply doing it. Maybe a fate, maybe a coincidence. A prodigious glue that keeps Toshikiyo and Kiro close to a territory, a product and a type of experimentation. The visceral attachment to a specific time and space has never been so brilliant, succeeding in transcending that time and that space.
DARING FACTOR: Kapital dares to be osmotic and not. It plays within the unpredictable line between micro and macro, Kojima and the world, the past and the desire to inspire and leave an indelible mark. It is permeable, but only partially. It looks at the fashion landscape, but mostly ignores it. It creates legendary catalogues absorbing the aura of several cities, but its signature lasts undiluted, not Japanese nor American. Unparalleled manufacturing quality and naive approach. Kapital represents an inner journey that gets its radiant power exclusively from its own perpetuation.
Written by
Rocco Colella
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