今年は目には見えにくいアップデートを繰り返す、土台固めのような日々が続いています。HPもその一つで、今までより使いやすいように改善してみたり、気に入って頂ける方が先に購入できるようにしたりなど。今までできなかったことが様々な人にお願いして出来ております。感謝です。地道なインフラ整備ですが、次に向けてとても大切な準備。丸6年経って改めて点検したりメンテナンスする良い時間です。
ようやく少し寒くなってきたような、また暑い日が振り返すような不安定な日本。(そのうち東南アジアのような熱帯雨林になってしまうのではないかと心配しています。)ヘビーウェイトについて1年前に書きましたが、今回はミドルウェイトについてお話出来ればと思います。BODHIを始めた当初から展開している名アイテム。ヘビーウェイトの陰に隠れて存在感がないように見えますが、こぞってこちらを選ばれる方も多数います。こちらはカシミヤの梳毛(長く、細く、起毛していない毛)を束ねて高密度にニッティングしたロンT以上スウェット未満なアイテム。とても表面がフラットで、品があります。BODHI全般のアイテムにも言えることですが、デザインや素材に自分なりの適度なカジュアルさ=”日常”を残すことがポイント。極細毛を詰め込んで表面にほとんど編み穴が見えないほど細かくしていますが、繊細すぎるアイテムに見えないように素材をデザインしています。よくゲージ(網目の細かさ)が細かいほど貴重で贅沢だと言われますが、貴重さや希少性といったプレミアム感は、必ずしも本人との好みや相性とは直結しないものです。
主観ですが、「(密度の)細かさ:荒さ=(アイテムの)カジュアル:ドレス」に紐づく要素の一つだと思っています。自分は綺麗すぎる素材を着るのが苦手。どうも洋服に着せられているような浮いた雰囲気や気分になってしまう。だからと言って単純にラフなアイテムを着たい訳ではない。このなんとも言えない塩梅がBODHIの素です。それはTPOやドレス、カジュアルの垣根を超えたモノ作りを心掛けています。ヨーロッパ生地をアメリカらしいタフで実用的な機能を付け加えてラフに着たい感覚。食事に例えてみたら、フルコース=ドレス、定食=カジュアル。その間に新しく定義する、良質な素材で作られた定食=質の良い品のあるカジュアル=BODHI。そんな少し特別な、自分なりにいいとこ取りをしたミドルウェイトスウェット。今シーズンはラグランスリーブにしてよりどなたでも着やすくしました。ぜひ、この秋冬に騙されたと思って試してみて下さい。
BODHI / S.Mizutani
【MIDDLEWEIGHT SERIES】
It's been a while since I last posted here, and I realized that it has been almost a year since I last posted on JOURNAL. This year, we have been making a lot of updates that are hard to see, and we have been working hard to solidify the foundation of our website, such as making it easier to use, making it available to those who like it first, etc. We have asked a lot of people to help us out. We have been able to do what we could not do before by asking various people to help us. We are very grateful. It is a steady infrastructure improvement, but it is a very important preparation for the next stage. After six whole years, it is a good time to inspect and maintain again.
Japan is in an unstable state, as if it is finally getting a little colder, and hot days are coming back. (I fear that we will soon become a tropical rainforest like those in Southeast Asia). I wrote about heavyweight one year ago, but this time I would like to talk about middleweight, a famous item that has been available since the beginning of BODHI. It seems to be hidden behind the heavyweight and has no presence, but there are many people who choose this one. This item is made of cashmere combed (long, thin, un-raised hair) and knit densely, making it more like a sweatshirt than a long T-shirt. As with all BODHI items, the key is to leave your own appropriate level of casualness (i.e., "everyday") in the design and materials. The knitting is so fine that you can hardly see any holes on the surface, but the material is designed in such a way that it does not look like an overly delicate item. It is often said that the finer the gauge (fineness of mesh), the more precious and luxurious it is, but the premium feeling of preciousness and rarity is not necessarily directly related to the person's preference or compatibility.
In my own way of thinking, I think it is one of the factors tied to "fineness (of density): roughness = (item's) casual: dress". I don't like to wear materials that are too beautiful. It gives me a floating atmosphere or mood as if I am being dressed in clothes. But that does not mean I want to wear simply rough items. This indescribable salubrious balance is the essence of BODHI. We try to create products that transcend the boundaries of TPO, dress, and casual wear. It is a feeling of wanting to wear European fabrics with tough and practical American-style features added to them in a rough, casual way. Or a French course that you can't eat every day and you get tired of, but you want to eat something a little more expensive, like ginger stir or omelette rice served at a long-established Western-style restaurant, but something you would want to eat every day. This middle-weight sweatshirt is a little bit special, and I have taken the best of both worlds in my own way. This season, we have made it easier for anyone to wear by making it raglan sleeve. Please try it this fall/winter and think you've been tricked. (Laughs)
BODHI / S.Mizutani
【MIDDLEWEIGHT SERIES】