There are some people, who, whether by luck or some universal guiding force, seem always to be in the right place at the right time. By all appearances, Shinsuke Takizawa is one of these people. He grew up in the mountainous prefecture of Nagano, and at a young age became captivated by the rebellious spirit of punk. By 19 he had made it to London, where he fell in with Nellee Hooper and the wardens of the new wave.
Back in Tokyo, Takizawa ran with the crew at Major Force records, at one point finding himself on tour with Public Enemy. He founded NEIGHBORHOOD in 1994, and has been running the wildly successful streetwear label from Tokyo ever since. Though the common thread of good fortune runs through anecdotes of Takizawa’s youth, the notion of him as casual cultural wanderer belies the hard work that has the made NEIGHBORHOOD a success over the past two decades.
NEIGHBORHOOD was established in 1994, and would go on to play a major part in the emergence of Ura-Hara. Loosely translated to ‘Hidden Harajuku,’ the movement was named for the small back streets on which Takizawa and his contemporaries began to open their shops and studios. In this tangle of streets, brands like A Bathing Ape, Wtaps, and Underground were creating garments that combined the attitude of the streets that surrounded them with the aesthetics of the distant cultures that inspired them. The inspiration was rebellion itself, and hip hop, club, and skate cultures were pervasive. These labels sought to be more than simply clothing brands: they were selling lifestyles and attitudes.
With NEIGHBORHOOD, Takizawa was interested in playing with the tropes of vintage motorcycle culture. Visions of Easy Rider and American chopper enthusiasts formed the basis for what would become the core of their style: clothing that feels like it has a backstory. NEIGHBORHOOD’s aesthetic, although still boundary pushing today, was especially remarkable at its outset. While Takizawa was developing his first pieces in the mid-nineties, most manufacturers didn’t even have the ability to produce the sort of subtly distressed denim and softly faded canvas the brand would become known for.
From its beginning, NEIGHBORHOOD has made a habit of looking outside itself for special projects. Takizawa pioneered the now ubiquitous practice of co-branded collaborations before there was even a term for them. These partnerships have spanned an impressive range of brands, from Adidas to Anarchy, Supreme, and Burton, and have resulted in everything from incense to T-shirts and camping equipment to snowboards. While the mix of products might seem non-sequitur, the collaborations form natural extensions of the friendships Takizawa has made since his formative years in Harajuku. A neighborhood, after all, is nothing without its people.
There is no schedule or ticket right now.
日本、〒150-0043 東京都渋谷区道玄坂２丁目１０−７ 新大宗ビル B1 Map
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