Japanese techniques and classic Americana—think jeans, moccasins, and leather jackets tweaked with artisanal details and crafts you can only find in Japan.New Mexico is having a moment. Its capital, Santa Fe, has long been known for its desert spas and rich Native American culture, but the city has lately become a destination for urban dwellers craving a little peace, solitude, and otherworldly scenery. Visvim’s Hiroki Nakamura and his wife, Kelsi, visit Santa Fe once a year—their friend Jed Foutz owns the gallery and store Shiprock Santa Fe—and when a Victorian house down the street became available, they felt it was the perfect setting for their first women’s-only Visvim store (also known as WMV Visvim). An unlikely location? Yes. But, as Nakamura says matter-of-factly: “We always like to do things differently.” Fans of the label might say that’s an understatement. While the duo’s peers may have leaned into the streetwear craze or over-the-top runway shows, Hiroki and Kelsi are as focused as ever on fabric development and artisanal techniques like hand-painted washi skirts, rare natural dyes, and other time-intensive crafts. Fittingly, the new Santa Fe store opened on the same weekend as the city’s annual International Folk Art Market festival, which brings artists and makers from around the world together to show and sell their work. “Our products have a connection to the culture in Santa Fe,” Nakamura says. “People here have an appreciation for crafts and things made by hand, so Jed suggested we open the store during the festival, when everyone is in town. Bigger cities like New York and Tokyo are more commercial [in terms of fashion], but here, it’s really culture- and art-oriented.” That translates to women’s fashion tastes, too. There’s a big demand for vintage clothes and casual, desert-friendly pieces—think lots of denim and breezy cotton. The light-filled store houses racks of the new WMV collection, as well as antique furniture and Japanese art, which is a first for the label. Much of the artwork dates back to the ’40s or ’50s and comes from Okinawa, an island in southern Japan, and the antique furniture is available to buy, as well. “All of the pieces have the same feeling [as our clothes], so we wanted to try showing them together,” Hiroki says. Adds Kelsi: “They’re just pieces we love.” It also speaks to Visvim’s core tenets: Japanese techniques and classic Americana—think jeans, moccasins, and leather jackets tweaked with artisanal details and crafts you can only find in Japan. Usually, the American vibes are more Western than East Coast, too; flip through the label’s recent men’s and women’s collections on Vogue Runway, and it’s easy to picture it all in Santa Fe. The Nakamuras have several stores in Japan, but this might be the most “Visvim” one yet, and you can expect more experimental retail concepts from them in the future.
POST: 2023-03-22