TRADMAN’S BONSAI is redefining the traditional Japanese art of bonsai. We asked CEO Teppei Kojima what the WILDSIDE collaboration means to him.

―Why did you start TRADMAN’S BONSAI?

I originally worked in the fashion world as a buyer of vintage clothes.
I wasn’t drawn to the vintage clothes just because they were old, but because I felt there was value in the credibility that only objects attired in time can possess.

It was then that I encountered bonsai. I instinctively thought, “This is the pinnacle of vintage!”
Here were things that have lived through decades, centuries, all while experiencing the human hand.
I felt that there was an essential sort of beauty there that wasn’t just popularity or vogue.

I want to pass on the traditional Japanese culture that is bonsai to future generations, but through interaction with modern sensibility and culture, not just keeping it within a closed world.
It’s for these reasons that I began TRADMAN’S BONSAI.

―Why did you choose WILDSIDE YOHJI YAMAMOTO?

A uniquely Japanese spirituality flows consistently through Yohji Yamamoto’s craft. Things like time, empty space, defiance, and an eye for beauty.
I felt that WILDSIDE is an existence that expresses these values free from old boundaries, interpreting them through a more liberated grammar.

The world of bonsai is also, at the end of the day, one where the philosophy of the creator becomes apparent even though there are set forms and shapes.
It was these points that I felt that WILDSIDE and TRADMAN’S BONSAI were in a relationship that would resonate very naturally, leading to this collaboration.

― What do you value when fusing bonsai with street fashion?

What I value most is to not force them to mix.
I don’t pull bonsai towards street, nor do I obsess over guarding tradition.
I consciously choose finding natural points of overlap, by correctly understanding the background behind each and the grammar they use.

Bonsai is a culture where philosophy and lifestyle will inevitably bleed through.
This is why I value intersecting with modernity through the root or the essential part, not just the surface ornamentation.

―Do you have any hints to enjoy uniquely Japanese traditional culture?

In today’s world, I think people try to force an immediate answer, or pursue a perfect form of something.
But in bonsai, there is absolutely no “correct answer” or “perfection”.

You grow your relationship little by little, spending time facing each other and accepting change.
Because it doesn’t go the way you first envision, you are taught patience, to watch over from a distance, to enjoy the empty spaces.
You value how you feel about something over knowledge or rules.

Bonsai is, even within traditional Japanese culture, something that especially reflects this life philosophy.

―Which collaboration piece do you like the most?

My favorite item from this collaboration is this T-shirt.
I’m attracted to how the bonsai’s branches and the shape of the tree avoids excessive ornamentation and is expressed as an honest graphic.

Bonsai is something that exists quietly in the day-to-day, not something that boasts too much.
This T-shirt is much the same. I think it can be incorporated naturally into any style or scene the wearer so chooses.
I particularly enjoy that it has become a product where, rather than you “wearing a bonsai”, you are garbed in the sensibility or atmosphere of one.

―Do you have a message you want to say to WILDSIDE users?

I would be elated if, through this collaboration, you feel that Japanese traditional culture isn’t something “far away”, but rather something to enjoy with your sensibility, as you are now.
In both fashion and bonsai, the true essence is “how you choose to face it”.

Please, grow this item with your own interpretations.
Through the layering of time, a value unique to you will surely be born.