Hiroshi Fujiwara - Newsweek December 11, 2000.
Hiroshi Fujiwara is cool. Just ask the kids who line up each day outside his streetwear boutique, Ready Made, in Tokyo's trendy Harajuku district. Rain or shine, scores of teen shoppers are waiting when the doors swing open. They file in a dozen at a time and snatch up everything on offer--$90 T shirts, $200 windbreakers, an assortment of tote bags. Shoppers buy quickly because they know Fujiwara's merchandise changes often. "This stuff is revolutionary," says Ken Tajima, happy to pay $130 for a pair of special edition Nike shoes that go for $700 on the Internet. "I buy things here that I normally only dream about."
At 36, Fujiwara is much more than a mere clothes retailer. He's a trend-setter. A former DJ and fashion writer, he intuits the stylistic leanings of some of the world's trendiest kids, who in turn rush to embrace Fujiwara's latest ideas. Besides his clothing shop, he runs a paid Web site--accessible exclusively through NTT's popular iMode mobile telephones--that counsels users on all things cool and hip. The service costs $3 a month and offers up his opinions on music, books, design and fashion. In his last column, Fujiwara wrote about his favorite Beatles song ("A Day in the Life") and praised an expensive Palm Pilot case from French fashion house Hermes. "Hiroshi is one of the key influences on youth culture here in Japan," says John Jay, creative director for the ad agency White and Kennedy in Tokyo. Fujiwara was born in Mie, Japan, but honed his hipness in the West. His father was a professional bicycle racer; his mother, a housewife. He moved to London in 1981 (after winning a free ticket when he won first prize at a Tokyo fashion contest). There he stayed with friends, hanging out in the punk-rock scene where he inevitably met Malcolm McLaren--manager for the Sex Pistols. McClaren told Fuijiwara that punk wasn't happening anymore and if he wanted to be in the cool scene he should go to New York to learn about hip-hop. Fujiwara did, and learned to DJ from the seminal American hip-hop sensation Afrika Bambaataa. During that time he met pop artist Andy Warhol. In 1983 he returned to Japan to write fashion columns for young people's fashion magazines like Brutus and Popeye and to produce music. Katsuhiko Ishikawa, editor of the Japanese fashion magazine Thrill, marvels at Fujiwara's knack for staying ahead in a fast-paced game. "It might sound extreme," he says, "but I see him as a Andy Warhol kind of presence [in Japan]."
Fujiwara opened Ready Made three years ago, and he claims it was an instant hit. Though barely the size of a two-car garage, the shop did more than $250,000 in sales the first week. Sitting in his office below a large oil painting by modern master Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fujiwara won't say anything about the new fashion label in which he's a "silent" investor. He refuses even to identify the brand. "If people know my brand they will try to categorize me," he says. "And I don't like to be categorized."
His next ambition is to become a Japanese trend guru for youth- oriented multinationals. He's already signed a consulting deal with Nike, offering the American shoemaker advice on how to reach Tokyo's capricious teens--a service he soon hopes to sell to other corporate clients as well. He also aims to start a design company that customizes mass-market items like CD players, mobile phones and sneakers for exclusive clientele. The concept, already employed by major automakers in limited editions, caters to consumers who favor tailor-made products. "People are always willing to pay for better quality," he says.
To stay hip, Fujiwara must move on before trends fade. To that end (and to his accountant's dismay), he plans to shut down ReadyMade next week to prevent the boutique from ever going out of style. His customers, no doubt, will be saddened by the closure. But they certainly won't lose sight of Mr. Cool.
Writer: Newsweek Staff