visvim Spring and Summer 2025

To enhance "inner quality"

One of the things that came together for this collection was a custom developed zipper.  There are such a limited number of zipper manufacturers today, however there were a variety of manufacturers including riri, TALON, CROWN, and CONMAR that can be found on vintage garments from the 1940's to the 1960's.

The zippers from that era were made of materials such as brass, and unlike the zippers common today which are cast (a process where molten metal is poured into a mold, then solidified once cooled) they were pressed (a process that presses a mold onto a thin metal plate to configure its shape).  I have always liked the mechanical nature and robustness as well as the general feel of them when being zipped up.  Of course, modern zippers utilize stable elements more suitable for mass production that result in durable, lightweight, and easy to handle zippers, but I have always felt that the qualities that make up these zippers, including its appearance and how they feel in your hand are significantly different compared to old zippers. 

With that in mind, we had actually been working out the details of a project with a major zipper manufacturer for several years now to create our very own zippers with the qualities we desired.  As a result, we will now be manufacturing a zipper where not only the puller has been customized, but the body and crown were newly designed.  We created new molds based on those designs and each component was pressed at a domestic factory in Japan then assembled into completion one at a time.

Zippers are commonplace on a variety of products we often see, but it takes a huge amount of time and effort to design and create them from scratch.  The size of each component can vary depending on the desired zipper size, so it is quite unusual today to make your own custom zipper in the method we have chosen, especially from the perspective of how much this can cost to execute.  Fortunately for us, with the cooperation of this manufacturer who helped make this project a reality with great enthusiasm we tested multiple prototypes and finally settled into creating an ideal zipper that had the right qualities and consistency that was necessary to be deemed appropriate as a modern product.

The zipper itself may be a small component or detail on a garment, however changing this piece has the power to completely alter the look of a product.  It is not only a difference in the colors you see or the shapes, but also in the finer details that can be felt with your hands such as weight and overall feeling.  It is similar to that feeling when you close the door of an old car and experience the unique sound and heaviness that appeals to all five senses, that feels rich to me.  It may seem like we live in a time today where many advancements have helped to evolve numerous techniques, but more often than not I have my doubts and believe there could actually be an aspect of "degeneration" when it comes to these certain qualities I've described previously.  I believe that real quality is found not within the specs or numerical values of a product, but the actual feeling that one experiences or what I like to describe as an "inner quality."

Instead of deciding that "old fashioned manufacturing is not suitable for the modern industrial environment," it was a very exciting and gratifying opportunity to team up with a manufacturer and take on the challenge of creating something that did not exist anymore.  As we spend time working together, we begin to better understand each other's thinking which gradually led us to harmonize.  Each year moving forward, I would like to continue working on further improvement of the details as well as the precision.  I believe that quality can only be improved by accumulation of experience and effort.

Text: Kosuke Ide

Photo: Keisuke Fukamizu

Dissertation on Quality We Choose

visvim Spring and Summer 2025