White Mountaineering x BRIEFING. An Interview with Yosuke Aizawa
We are proud to announce our third collaboration with White Mountaineering. Throughout our collaborations, we have developed products that have their own unique appeal, combining our strengths with the visions of the designers we work with. For our latest collaboration, we launched shoulder bags featuring White Mountaineering's original wave camouflage print fabric, available in two colorways and two sizes to suit your lifestyle.
Yosuke Aizawa is a Japanese fashion designer, and creative director of White Mountaineering from the brand start. Born in 1977, he graduated from Tama Art University in Tokyo where he majored in Product and Textile Design. He has designed for a variety of brands including Moncler W, BURTON THIRTEEN and Adidas Originals by White Mountaineering.
Can you tell us about your impression of BRIEFING before you started working with us?
BRIEFING is a brand that has not only beautiful designs and functionality, but also high durability. The brand offers a variety of products that can be used in any situation without being influenced by trends – it’s timeless in that sense. BRIEFING’s versatility is key: It's great to be able to choose a bag that suits you best, whether it's for the daily commute to the office or something travel-related like a weekend trip away.
How do you like the previous collaboration?
For the last 21AW season, we have picked one of the most popular styles for BRIEFING, the 3-way bag. I designed it with the concept of lightweight in the heavy duty, so we chose to use a durable gourd-shaped quilted fabric. The bag can be used as a tote bag, shoulder bag and backpack to honor BRIEFING’s key feature: versatility. I personally use it for going to my office and for short holiday trips. I love it.
Please tell us about the design concept and details of the new collaboration.
It's never bulky and comes in a useful size if you look for a second bag for travel and outdoor activities. Also, it's made of a durable proprietary fabric with a wave camouflage print developed for our original apparel collection. This is a massive shift in appearance from our previous collaborations.
Where do you want people to go with this product? What is your preferred outfit with this?
I designed it for people who have an active lifestyle and hope they use it for a stroll through the city but also in the great outdoors for camping or mountain climbing. Since the bags themself feature bold colors and patterns, I think they will serve as a vibrant accent within a more subdued outfit.
How has your lifestyle changed during this pandemic?
As you know I used to travel around the world for business but couldn’t because of the pandemic. In the meantime, I got another atelier in Karuizawa which is one of the best mountain resorts in Japan, and I travel back and forth between two bases – Tokyo being the other one. In terms of bags and luggage, I prefer a size that can pack all my essentials for my creative work these days.
Shop our collaboration here.
