The Impression Interview with Kidill designer Hiroaki Sueyasu
The Impression: Can you please share with us about your journey and how you came to found the collection?
Hiroaki Sueyasu: I am a fan of the US hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys. I bought a record when I was a high school student.
The Dead Kennedys logo and the flyer and record jacket designs are fresh and impressive for me. It was a band that expressed the spirit of hardcore punk in a visible form as an art.
When I looked it up, it was an artist named Winston Smith who made a visual image of Dead Kennedys. Since then, I have become a big fan of Winston Smith.
A long time has passed since then, and I’ve become a fashion designer now. I try to incorporate into my clothes the spirit of youth culture that I like. Working with the artists I admired when I was a child was my long-cherished dream, and Winston Smith is one of the artists I respect. I made a passionate offer to him, and my strong desire to collaborate at the 2021 Spring-Summer.
The Impression: How has the development of this collection been different than others?
Hiroaki Sueyasu: Basically, I make collections in the same way. The only difference is we have been presenting collections with films on digital platform since last ( FW20 ) season.
In terms of clothes, I am particular to making clothes made in Japan.
The artists who collaborate every season are different, so that the clothes would look completely different.
The Impression:What is the process in choosing artists to collaborate with?
There are four collaborations for this season. It’s interesting that each has a different function.
Winston Smith is an American artist, so I decided to collaborate with Dickies to incorporate some classic American elements into the design. PUNK culture elements are incorporated into Dickies clothes.
Continued collaboration with Edwin from last season ( FW20 ). We are building a sustainable system that is specialized by KIDILL and Edwin.
Edwin is well known [for] a high-quality Japanese denim featuring craftsmanship and skilled sewing techniques. To reduce the environmental impact of wastewater containing indigo dye, full-scale wastewater treatment facility is installed at the factory to purify the water. EDWIN continues to manufacture products that do not impact the environment.
In the future, we plan to make key chains and dolls using with discarded denim.
SS21 is the third season collaboration with Japanese knit brand, rurumu:.
rurumu: has a riot and girly fashion world and KIDILL’s punk style are collaborations born from a sense of spiritual connectedness, though ostensibly different.
The fusion of different counter cultures is really fun, so every season we collaborate with various artists.
We collaborated with:
Winston Smith (Artist)
Edwin (Denim Wear)
Dickies (Wear)
rurumu: (Knit Wear)
The Impression: Why did you choose Winston Smith for this season’s ‘Idol’ collection?
Hiroaki Sueyasu: It’s very simple, I just wanted to work with Winston Smith！Working with the artist you admire is a pleasure, and it leads to your career and your growth.
This season’s title was chosen from Winston Smith’s “IDOL”, which is my favorite [of] his work. Winston Smith is best known for creating the design “IDOL” with the Virgin Mary cross on American currency for Dead Kennedy’s album “In God Wetrust, Inc.”.
This design is a permanent icon of Winston Smith and Dead Kennedy, and has been handed down as the epoch-making of punk culture that transcends time.
The Impression: When did you first discover the Punk movement?
Hiroaki Sueyasu: I’ve loved punk ever since I bought a Sex Pistols record in junior high school.
The Impression: How did you manage to get in touch with Winston Smith?
Hiroaki Sueyasu: I contacted Winston Smith from his home page. When I tried to make a passionate offer, he quickly responded to me, and he liked the KIDILL creations. From there, the entire design of 21 SS began.
