Setsumasa Kobayashi or “Koba” as his friends refer to him as, grew up in Japan as the son of a shoemaker and continued his father’s legacy making footwear until 1993 when he debuted his label General Research. General Research was the product of Koba’s love for outdoorswear, transcendentalist philosophy, and punk music. He aimed to create a perfect lifestyle brand that offered every item necessary to exist within, without, or outside an industrialized society. In 2006 he renamed his brand to Mountain Research and in 2008 he moved into a refuge he designed with Shin Ohori located in the Chichibu mountain range. To this day, Koba, much like Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden,” lives in his outdoor home, constantly testing out his creations amongst the nature his clothing was designed for. I’m very grateful for the time he took to answer my interview questions and am excited to have you read them. Follow Koba on Instagram @anarchomountaineers009 and his brand @mountain_research.
How has your definition of “Anarchy In the Mountains” changed from these photos(img.1,2) in 1998 to these photos(3,4) from present day?
“My imaginary story of anarchists residing in mountains draws the history back to the 60’s when extreme-left activists secluded in self-built mountain hide-outs so to evade the authorities going after them. Such historical context mixes with my personal memories of young days when I spent every summer and winter holiday with my hunter grandfather at his hunting preserve located in the depth of West Japan mountains. And here we go! I’ve come up with my Mountain Research story of punks, activists, poets, philosophers all living their quiet life in a mountainous village where Mountain Research is assigned to do them mountain folks’ story telling. Back in 1998 (when these pics. were released) my ”mountain story” is still years ahead to come.“
In a Smart 1998 interview you said “Design is almost the work of reconstructing the memory of the past…” Do you feel you are reconstructing your own past with your new work at Mountain Research?
“I actually never consider my work as designing because all I’ve been doing is like cut/paste, deconstruct/reconstruct of what I see, what I touch and what I like i.e. my memory things from which I “borrow” (without permission though) necessary elements such as color combinations, details and things like that. It’s like breaking down my source materials to brick pieces which I assemble/re-assemble just like you do with LEGO toys where I enjoy seeing their original meanings (I mean what the color combinations, details etc. were originally meant for) get a slight twist. And when I do my assembling, I always do it in a way so anybody can easily catch an idea of where all these pieces came from or where I “borrowed” them from. As I don’t belong to any fashion tribe-like thing and I had never been present at or been involved in historically important (fashion) scenes nor any movement, I’m aware that I am a forgery. And as having a fake existence (in the fashion industry), my brick pieces that I pick up while remixing ideas for my clothes (or whatever I make/produce) don’t have to be a first-to-be-seen kind of inventive new thing. It’s more fun to repeat playing with the same old “toys” to visualize my little ideas reflecting my current interest. Please keep in mind that I’m so far out from being “the original” or “the creation” because all I do is to take apart and put back things that come out from someone else’s brain.“
In that same interview you said “You should choose your style after you can kick yourself” and that you need to “build your inner self” before you begin to buy clothes… Why is it important to have a strong identity before you start consuming fashion?
“To choose what you wear today is the biggest and the most important thing of one’s life, isn’t it? haha. Question yourself what it is to accept your value of life. The answer, I mean what/how you want to wear (clothes), should be standing in the direction of how you proceed your life. Find your own direction first, then go for consuming.“
Why do you choose to contradict the fashion industry’s standard of consistent novelty and consumption and how is this a reflection of your own philosophical emphasis on “ephemeralization?”
“How I appear to be to your eyes might be blamed to my self-taught fashion industry learning. Kicking my career off as a shoe maker later to switch to a clothes maker, I’ve been going (and still struggling?) without having any maestros to teach me the proper and appropriate ways. It’s like I am a daredevil making a dive into a midst of mountains without having any route map thus being rule-less, logic-less up till this day. However It is ridiculous to continue buying new clothes every season like twice a year or something like that. Don’t you think we have far more than enough for a single person’s life? To keep over-informing updates and over-supplying products requires a certain kind of power and strength both of which we do not have…it’s a story so unfamiliar with our team. Please come visit our store some day which’s been sitting in the same location for all these 25 years and see our all-year-around-unchanging deeds without much updates.“
What was the “parasite” influence in your 1998 collection? i was always curious why it was called that.
“The story was about barnacles (you see at the sea) and illegal substance/object courier’s tailor-made uniforms. Just as barnacles do with seaside concrete walls, pockets after pockets parasitise ordinary people’s every day clothes…“
How do you feel about designers “referencing” your archival designs like Louis Vuitton did with these pants?
“I had “borrowed” and plated or transplanted (without any permission) lots and lots of designs and details from numerous garments of the past that are scattered all over the world. I simply enjoy seeing somebody whether he is at the world famous LV or is an unknown giving a touch to my past product. It is out-of-my-control these kind of issues anyway.“
What are some specific experiences you had with Jun Takahashi and Keita Maruyama that made you decide to create General Research?
“I worked with Jun Takahashi for his 1994’s debut runway show’s shoes. Basically the same work with Keita Maruyama. Things that I learned while being involved in their runway show-piece shoe making and its manufacturing production later became a big and bright guide when shifting myself from shoes to clothes.”
How do you feel about your archive designs being bought at inflated prices by the younger generations of today? For example, your 175 multipocket jackets from 1998 are currently sold for at least 7,000 usd.
“Past products make me blush in a way and at the same time adorable because they all carry memories of my old days struggling, having fun (to struggle?), going & pushing hard… Though how much they’re now worth or not worth at auction sites is out of my interest, I feel very much honored that some people still remember the things that I poured my every bit of self into. It is always so encouraging.“
Your work often references vintage military garments and I know you have a large collection of pieces, i’m curious if you have a favorite military garment/type of garment and why?
“I’m always into “field wear” of various countries since WWII while “dress up” officer-like military uniforms never interest me. So called “combat wear” carries without any exception full of “unusual” details wherever it’s origin country is. There still must be lots and lots more battlefield clothing that I haven’t seen and that I don’t know. And this is why battlefield genre keeps my interest going even up till now. My all time favorite is British army combat wear. Their battlefield wear has tailor-like crafty men’s wear feel whereas American military garments appear to be more like factory-made mass production products. My impression of British army combat wear is unsophisticated? unrefined? and this is what I love the most.“
What are you excited for in the future for both you and your work? Any upcoming plans?
I’m excited to continue stimulating myself with newly earned inspiration and information. Being obsessed with assembling up newly collected LEGO pieces is always thrilling. I always wish such exciting experiences or processes continue on and on. An upcoming plan is a Halloween event at Tokyo suburban campsite which I run with my business partners.