Streetstyle Star Shinsuke Takizawa Talks About His Neighborhood Collab with Adidas
by Brad Wete
On Thursday night (Feb. 22), Adidas and streewear shop Union hosted a pop-up shop in downtown Los Angeles, celebrating the upcoming release of Adi's latest capsule collab' with Japanese streetwear label NEIGHBORHOOD. Founder of the brand known for its monochromatic ways, Shinsuke Takizawa, chatted with Flaunt for a bit ahead of the event.
Before praying to app and web gods in hopes of maybe adding a pair of his Adidas NMD or I-5923 sneakers and the coveted jackets, give this short Q&A a read, where Takizawa talks about his run-in with a sneakerhead in an L.A. Home Depot, why he loves black, and more.
Flaunt: You use black and white exclusively? How do you portray the “energy” your brand is about by just using those two colors?
Takizawa: The black color is what I like the best. There are colors like--red, green, purple. But black can express an energy of powerfulness.
What does black mean to you, energy and tone-wise?
With black, it’s the mix of texture, design… That’s what maximizes black’s greatness. That’s why I always use good textiles, materials, or designs. The look of the blackness, that’s what I’m putting the importance in.
Some artists see earning money as victory; Others like when art connects and spreads to the people. What’s your art objective?
Japan is a very small island. I’ve already shown my product there, but I want to show my product to other countries of the world. There are other countries that I’ve never been, so I want to show my products to other countries that don’t know my brand. That’s my objective.
What’s your opinion on Los Angeles style in comparison to Japan, New York, and other places you’ve been?
New York and Los Angeles are very different. Los Angeles is more open-minded and free and there are good vibes. That’s the big difference for Los Angeles. Yesterday I landed in LA, and went to Home Depot and one guy from the staff came to me and looked at my shoes, and he said, “This shoe’s going to come out this week, isn’t it?” and he was really friendly. Los Angeles is close to sneaker culture. Very open-minded and friendly.
written by Brad Wete