Recently we sat down and caught up with Eiichiro Homma of Nanamica --
During our trip in NYC to catch the (capsule) NY show, which we recapped here, our William Yu had a chance to sit down with Eiichiro Homma, the co-founder and managing director for the Japanese brand Nanamica. Catching him at New York's Ace Hotel, Will brought the questions as Jay previewed Nanamica's Fall/Winter 2013 collection. A brand known for integrating technical materials into classic American styles, Nanamica introduced some new materials for the upcoming season as well as recreating the Take Ivy style popularized in the 1960's that features a heavy nod to the prep world. During this session, we talked to Eiichiro about the Nanamica's history, the crossover between American and Japanese cultures, and the new Fall/Winter line.
William: To start off, could you state your name, and your role with Nanamica and talk about how you developed the brand?
Eiichiro: My name is Eiichiro, and I am the head of the company, the managing director. My role so far is full direction of the company, brand, in particular for the overseas sales right now. We started the year 2003, as select stores, although even at the time we are aiming to develop our brand, but initially we started from a retail business, and also some licensed merchandise like North Face or Champion, or American sportswear brands. But we created a special make-up addressed to more, not sports or streetwear stores but to fashion-oriented boutiques.
In the year 2004, we started our own stores in Tokyo, and in the next year 2005 we launched the Nanamica brand, which is our house label, which can be coordinated with our special make-up under the North Face brand. After several years we launched the Nanamica brand, we reestablished Nanamica as a global full item brand and spent a couple of years just test marketing in Italy, in particular for the fit, to be well-received for the Western people. In year 2010, after a couple years of test marketing, we launched in Pitti Uomo, Florence. And after that we expanded to a global market. And in this year 2012 spring, our styles are sold in 19 countries right now, and maybe more for next year. This is the first time for us to give small individual presentation in New York City, since we have many North American customers who couldn’t come to our Pitti or Tokyo show.
Continue here for the full interview.
