2. Hesitation about new challenges

To be honest, when I heard about the project, I had very mixed feelings.

I also felt uncomfortable with the price of 6,000 yen.

We have always operated with the idea of ​​making only what is needed, in the quantities needed, so it didn't seem realistic to suddenly produce 2,000 pairs.

If I had just graduated from university, or even if I was still a student, I would have had no doubts and thought, "I want to give it a try!"

I graduated from university and returned to Japan when I was 26 years old, and before I knew it, nine years of working life (I'm not sure if that can be called working life) had passed.

During that time, I was faced with the difficulties of creating something new, the difficulty of collaborating with other companies, and above all, the fact that Loper was originally a project started by just three people: CEO Igarashi, Roderck, a classmate from my time in the Netherlands, and myself, further adding to my hesitation. After various circumstances, the project is now run internally by proef. I would like to write about this here someday.

I was also intrigued by the fact that it was a trading company that wanted to work with us. Bringing something that is popular in the market and making something similar to sell it is a completely different process from creating something new.

Before I entered university, I was looking at job postings for designers at companies, feeling like I was job hunting, and I realized that most designer jobs in the world might be the former type.

After studying so hard, I decided that I didn't want to spend most of my life making counterfeit goods in pursuit of profit, so I went abroad.

It felt like the only route I could see right now was the worst possible one: staying in Japan, going to university or vocational school, and then getting a job.

When I first moved abroad at the age of 18, I studied fine art and textiles in London for a year, then went to Arnhem in the Netherlands, where there weren't even any Asians.

I am often asked why I chose the Netherlands, but in the Netherlands, shoes are treated as part of product design, rather than as fashion or crafts.

This is because I felt that the underlying idea was that creation equals social contribution.

Art and design are tools for creating a better society, and with that in mind, I felt there was still so much more that shoes could do.

Even now, the world is overflowing with so many different things, so is there really any need to create more?

I often find myself thinking like that. In fact, it is bad for humans to create more than they need due to their ego.

However, I believe that in this day and age, we also need to create something that can make people smile.

And at times of change, you will always meet new people.

I've gone off on a tangent, but if you don't do it well, after all the hard work you put into creating it, it could all be taken away by a company with more money.

In the first place, wouldn't it be better in the long run to proceed slowly and with our own funds?

There's a catch to every good deal. Don't fall for it so easily.

I was surprised to find that I had acquired such a mindset, and felt like I had become a little more mature.

I once had a meeting via Zoom with Mr. Kikuchi, who is in charge, and Mr. Otani.

Mr. Kikuchi was smiling throughout and listened carefully to what I had to say.

They promised that there would be no risk to the proef.

I didn't have time to wonder if such a good idea existed; my brain was overflowing with ideas about what I wanted to make and how I wanted it to be, so I created a proposal.

It was a lot of fun.

Below is the proposal that summarises the ideas we had after our first meeting.