THE NEW TOKYO: KAZUHO AND FAKE ASS FLOWERS
Tokyo-based collective Youthquake member, designer, and mastermind behind his label Fake Ass Flowers, Kazuho Arai combines fashion and streetwear and throws in Tokyo’s influence by the boatload.
Kazuho Arai
Kazuho walks the infinitely fine line between high end and street culture, manipulating culturally entrenched classics and making them his own.
The first moves of FAF are dated back to 2018 when their paint-brushed Tees started to pop up in the Tokyo underground and music scene. The ties of Youth Quake are deeply rooted in all creatives fields of Tokyo, from nightlife to street photography, art and music - when a member of this crew expresses himself through art, fashion, or music you can be sure to see the city and its cultural leaders to vibe with it and wear it.
BIM in FAF
Famous Dex in FAF
The transition from just another t-shirt brand to a serious contender for becoming one of Tokyo’s under the gun hidden gems just took under one year.
In September 2019 the brand dropped a collaboration with MIYAGIHIDETAKA showcasing Bandana and Patchwork styles.
FAF MIYAGIHIDETAKA BANDANA SHIRT
FAF MIYAGIHIDETAKA KANGA SHIRT
Only a month later the transition was complete. After their first capsule collection had dropped at PIGALLE GALLERY, the direction and vision got clear:
FAKE ASS FLOWERS isn’t just a brand printing logos and graphics on blanks, not just another brand with the same cuts and streetwear classics - FAF is a fashion brand with a clear vision, unique designs and their own DNA.
A fresh take on workwear, Americana and military wear is the source of FAF’s design philosophy that gets mixed with their graphics, floral and star embroidery and prints. A heritage infused aesthetic with a distinct look and feel at the same time.
FAF’s 2020 Fall collection features everyday loungewear with novel prints, a unique set of accessories by way of Kapital-esque leather tassels, and bandanas with a custom paisley print featuring a repeating “FAF” motif. The highlight of the collection, however, is a trifecta of shirts all with a dropped shoulder and semi-transparent lace inserts, adorned with Fake Ass Flowers branding on the rear.
This old-English branding appears across past seasons as well; Fake Ass Flower’s heaviest hitting piece to date has been their take on the MA-1 flight jacket, which maintains the traditional form from the surface, but under closer inspection reveals diverse print panelling on both underarms.
Sabukaru caught up with Kazuho to chat about his brand, Fake Ass Flowers’ influences and how he can expand into the global market with such a strong brand identity:
Hey Kazuho, can you please introduce yourself and FAKE ASS FLOWER to the Sabukaru Network?
Hi, my name is Kazuho. I am a designer of FAF and YouthQuake. FAF stands for “FAKE ASS FLOWER” which we meant beautiful but fake - Living in a world with too much information going on, you have to find out what the truth is. What we want to tell people through our brand is to be true to your sensitivity.
How important is Tokyo for your work and your inspiration, what does this city mean to you?
I moved to Tokyo when I was 18 and it blew my mind. Everything was different from where I came from.
I was an ordinary high school student doing sports in my school team, but in Tokyo, even highschoolers looked mature and they know what they like already.
Most of the time I got influenced by who I met. Maybe I was so lucky but all the people I met surprised me. I think it is still going on with me whenever I meet someone new here.
What is the main inspiration behind the brand, how would you describe FAF to someone who never heard about it?
I would say my inspiration for the design is the Flower Movement from the 60s, HIP-HOP from the 80s to the present such as black culture. But it’s not like we copy what they did, I always see it through my filter as a Japanese man living in 2020.
What made you become a designer, and who were your role models along the way?
Since I got influenced by people in Tokyo, I also felt like expressing something. First, I didn’t know what to do so I did beat-making, worked as a DJ, also designed T-shirts through silkscreen printing. After all this, I realised that I want to design clothes.
Can you please tell us more about your connection to Youth Quake? What is the collective about and how did this all start?
I met my boss at Youth Quake Rikiya at University, and he introduced me to Tsukasa and some other mates. After we first met, we just liked to get together, so we just had fun all the time.
At that time Rikiya and Kei launched brands, and now they belong to YouthQuake.
Youth Quake
What are the design/clothing pieces that stand out the most for you so far? About what designs you are the proudest about?
It gives me so much motivation when I sew the clothes. It feels great when I directly sew what I have designed.
If I had to name the piece I’m most proud of, it’d have to be the FAF Logo MA-1.
Can you please tell us about the collaborative items you have brought out so far?
So far I have done 2 collaborations with Mr Hidetaka Miyagi. For the first one, we designed a Fake Ass Flowers original bandana and patchwork shirts with a piece of African fabric as our designer Tsukasa has African blood. We have chosen Kanga. For the second one we designed shirts again and sweatpants. We wanted to share our aesthetic vision with Mr Miyagi, so we took our originality seriously rather than making something completely new.
Where can we get FAF?
You can find our collection online, and the latest information is on Instagram.
what is next for the brand?
I would like to expand our collection nationwide. If the circumstance allows, I would like to do business abroad and have more collaborations.
If you would give our readers Your favourite spots to hang out, shop, or chill in Tokyo to catch the real Tokyo where should they go?
Personally, being in nightclubs makes me feel I am in Tokyo. You never know who you can meet, and sometimes a miracle happens and turns into a new project. In Tokyo, you can play and work at the same time. You go to play; you meet someone and that connects to your work.
Thank you a lot for your time !
Text by Adrian Bianco & Samuel Le Roy
