"The Brooklyn Circus" - Rapid growth in Japanese fabrics

The Brooklyn Circus presented its brand, which boasts tremendous interest from artists and creators, at the men's fashion trade show, 'Project,' at a SOHO event hall in New York from July 17^th through 19^th. The brand's theme was 'luxury casual' incorporating classic American taste and New York street culture in a modern design for a men's line. According to Ouigi Theodore, the creative director and representative, many contracts are issued at the trade show and currently his business scale is undergoing rapid growth. In particular, the quality of material in products that use Japanese fabrics is a factor in the business's popularity.

Brooklyn Circus is based in a directly-managed store in Brooklyn, across the East River from Manhattan, which is in the center of New York. According to graphic designer Ouigi Theodore, who is from Haiti, the company was established in 2006 and Theodore and his partner, Gabriel Garcia, make the decisions and run the company, everything from accounting to design to sales. Most sales were at the directly-managed store in Brooklyn when the company was initially started, but a branch was also opened in San Francisco in 2009. After that, they began wholesale to select shops in Japan and Europe in addition to the U.S. and sales were significantly increased. The brand concept of 'connecting past values to the future and expanding' is vigorously put forth and attention is paid to not only design and product quality, but also to the consistence of the brand's world view and story. In the directly-manage store, there are antique sofas, benches, trunks, and sewing machines and the products are displayed in the good, old American atmosphere. The company supports American craftsmanship and most of the sewing is performed in the U.S. However, for the materials, the company is pursuing quality and many Japanese fabrics are utilized as a result.

Theodore, who highly values Japanese textiles, has gone on about seven trips to Japan to arrange materials. Currently, he purchases Japanese fabrics through ZENTEX, a company that purchases and sells Japanese materials from an office on Long Island in New York. Theodore explained, "Last year in fall/winter, when we sold a shirt using Japanese wool, it was extremely well-received. Looking at that sale, I decided to make the entire shirt line for this fall/winter out of Japanese fabric." Theodore participated in the Osaka/Yamagata textile business meetings and production area visit programs held by JETRO in July and he was able to negotiate with approximately 50 Japanese companies. "The business meeting was an extremely good opportunity as I met with many Japanese companies and encountered many wonderful fabrics. I also was greatly inspired by actually seeing the condition of production when visiting the factories. I deeply respect the Japanese work technique that pays attention to the smallest detail."

With regard to the possibility of doing business with the companies with whom he negotiated, Theodore said that although it would be difficult with the prices, there were several companies with whom he would like to do business. "A particular denim company had excellent follow-up contact after the business meeting. I am extremely interested in their products and would like to do business with them as soon as possible," he said. "By coming into contact with so many Japanese companies there, I've learned that if I contact them in the future when I require their products, they will respond quickly. That is an extremely significant tool when developing a business. The opportunity to handle such high-quality fabric while talking directly with the producer was important to my future development as creative director and business owner and I am truly thankful."

"Connecting past values to the future and expanding" -- The traditional Japanese textile techniques have met an American fashion brand and a new story of their joint development is unfolding.

The Brooklyn Circus: www.thebkcircus.com (English)
Project: project.magiconline.com/project-new-york (English)
ZENTEX: www.zentextiles.com (English)