VISVIM: I like it but I have questions

VISVIM

304 S. Broadway, Los Angeles

Visvim was founded by Hiroki Nakamura, a former designer for Burton.

The brand has several locations in Japan and is primarily carried by other stockists in the States.

They produce design forward clothing mixing together traditional Japanese, streetstyle, and Americana aesthetics.

It is artist designed, craftsman made, expensive, and cool.

But…

I asked the person working there if she knew anything about the lining of this Kiyari Jacket.

She replied that it is an original work by the designer.

I asked if she knew anything about the events depicted in the art and she replied that she believes it is historically inspired but wasn’t sure.

Now I’m a little uncomfortable.

The most common source of this sort of art were Native American prisoners of war in the 1870s. With access to paper, via things like ledger books, and time, many of these captives recorded historical events, battles and individual exploits. The drawings were perhaps a little more storytelling than artwork, which adds an extra level to my disappointment that the salesperson didn’t know the story.

It made me wonder if the designer knows the stories.

Appropriation isn’t really a difficult thing to suss out in a strictly American context, with our well established exploitative power dynamics and history, but it becomes a bit more complex when the person doing a “thing” that isn’t their own, isn’t American and doesn’t carry the same baggage.

So I have questions more than I have conclusions or statements.

Trading Post by Dr. Collectors

Trading Post

126 S. La Brea Ave, LA

I would describe what Dr. Collectors do as a French person’s version of romanticized American Western wear via Japanese design.

I am not qualified to unpack all of that. Those concepts are both problematic and fascinating. Like a well executed television show that is consistently cringy yet you still kinda love it. Like The Office. You just can’t pause to think about it.

No matter my opinions I can solidly say they produce unique items with attention to detail. A lot of it, I must admit, looks super cool, and to be fair, I have had zero contact with the owners or designers and don’t have a true sense of what they are all about. And to continue in fairness, I am no expert on Native American design and the boundaries of certain designs, or items, with their associated meanings, and I know even less about Japan.

But I do know a thing or two about colonialism, appropriation, and how clothing communicates meaning, including, but not limited to, identity.

All of which adds up to me having a lot of questions, no recommendations, and a general hesitance from actual opinion.