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Japanese designer prepares to unleash street wear line
Nami Ogawa models a top and jeans that she designed
Joe Appel/ Tribune-Review
The Zeto Clothing team
Joe Appel/ Tribune-Review
Samples of Ogawa's Zeto Clothing line of casual street wear
Joe Appel/ Tribune-Review
Bunny cigarette shirt over a stereo 314 shirt and circle-patched skirt
Joe Appel/ Tribune-Review
Circle-patched cap-sleeve shirt, twill miniskirt and corduroy pants
Joe Appel/ Tribune-Review
Off-shoulder cuffed shirt, flower miniskirt and railroad jeans
Joe Appel/ Tribune-Review
Ogawa, a Pittsburgh-based fashion designer, is extremely tired. She and her husband, Brian Holderman, a graphic designer, have been putting in long hours to prepare for the big launch of Ogawa's street wear clothing line, Zeto Clothing Inc.
"The first season will be the hardest of all," Holderman says. "We're all working like 24 hours a day."
Ogawa designs the clothes, while Holderman illustrates graphics, such as a smoking bunny design, which are screen-printed on some of Ogawa's designs. Ogawa and Holderman are joined by two other compadres (who won't divulge more than a single name each): Bagel, who is in charge of North American sales and marketing, and Taka, who handles Japanese sales.
The Zeto Clothing group is busy preparing for what they hope is the company's big debut at the Pool Trade Show, which takes place Aug. 27 to 29 in Las Vegas. The Pool Trade Show is a huge fashion industry event that showcases up-and-coming street wear fashion, where 100,000 buyers and 85,000 designers coalesce.
It is also a place where success stories are born, Bagel says.
"The Pool Show is more fashion-oriented than glitz, glam and hype. The first show can make or break you -- it raises the visibility of the company," Bagel says.
This summer marks an important transition in Ogawa's career as an up-and-coming designer. The 26-year-old effervescent native of Japan has been designing clothes for two years. Until recently, Ogawa sewed all of her designs by hand with the help of one assistant in her North Side studio.
Ogawa's designs are intriguing in that they pair unconventional fabrics and colors together to achieve an eclectic look. Zeto Clothing can best be described as an interesting fusion of '80s rock-star retro and contemporary thrift shop chic.
Sample items from Zeto's fall collection include a camouflage-print tank layered under a black mesh tank featuring a horse's head ($48), paired with pigment-washed jeans adorned with corduroy patches and open flaps ($100), and an '80s-style pink polka-dot, off-the-shoulder top ($58), worn with a corduroy "Sweet Mini Pacman," ultra-mini skirt ($120).
Zeto Clothing ranges in price from $40 to $70 for tops, and $95 to $110 for bottoms.
Her creations achieved a modest reception in trendy Pittsburgh boutiques such as Shadyside's Jake and Mabel, e.b. Pepper and Pink Boutique, and Luxx on the South Side.
"Pittsburgh is a tough market," Ogawa says. "It's very different because, if people spend $300 on anything, they want it to have a recognized label. Which, I think, is very strange, because clothes should reflect your personality."
Ogawa has now set her sights on more lofty aims. She has contracted with a Turkish manufacturer to produce about 100 units of each of her designs for the Pool Trade Show. From that, Ogawa hopes to get a minimum of 30 accounts, which would enable her to sell her creations in boutiques and department stores around the country and possibly the world.
"This is the largest step that I have ever taken," Ogawa says. "Brian and I sat down and were discussing it for like five or six hours, and we decided to go for it. The most difficult thing is that we decided to do the production in mass quantity."
The launch of Zeto Clothing might be a formidable task, but one that Ogawa is definitely up to. It seems that Ogawa was destined to be a fashion designer.
"My mom was a fashion designer. I've always loved the smell of new clothes," she says. "In fourth grade, I started making Barbie doll clothes, and ever since, I've gotten better at making patterns."
Ogawa graduated from Queen's University in Charlotte, N.C., with a degree in business. Immediately after graduating from college, she was hired as a buyer for American Eagle Outfitters and was transferred to Pittsburgh. She has been living in the area for 31/2 years.
Ogawa says she gets inspiration for her designs from the uber-trendy Shibuya district in Tokyo.
"Shibuya is the fashion mecca in Tokyo," she says. "It's one of the hottest places in street wear, and where the street casual look was born. The neighborhood is a hangout for art school students."
Ogawa says her brand of fashion is so new that there isn't a category for it yet, but she refers to her designs as the "cutie-sexy" look and describes it as a bridge line between junior and contemporary casual lines.
One of Ogawa's aims is to create clothes that are fashion forward and cutting edge, while also being more accessible to the masses.
"In the U.S., the way that fashion is marketed doesn't reflect real people's lives," Ogawa says. "Dresses (in magazines) are like $8,000, and it just makes you want to give up.
"Average people in Japan are more fashion conscious. Japan is very small, and there are so many messages all the time. The feeling is always there, that you're in the public eye and you want to keep up with others in fashion."
