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"FacebookPinterest\n\nWith boutiques in Honolulu and New York, an online retail operation and a revamped private label, \"AR,\" Aloha Rag founder Tatsugo Yoda is one busy dude. We caught up with him to discuss his Spring 2012 line, the weather in New York and collaborations he's digging.\n\nThe GQ Eye: Can you share with us a little about your inspiration for the spring 2012 collection? The inaugural collection, last fall, seemed to be centered around basics and had a strong military influence. This collection seems a bit more upscale and breezier...\n\nTatsugo Yoda: I started the collection thinking about the heat, or better yet, escaping the heat. Where I grew up, the summers were unbearably hot. There's a mountain town called Karuizawa that has a cooler climate where families would go to escape the heat. It is kind of a resort town where the summers were spent playing tennis, swimming in the mountain springs...relaxing. I wanted the collection to reflect the casualness of summer homes, but still have an air of \"presentability\".\n\nWith regards to the difference in the collections, there has been a constant evolution since I started designing. At first I just designed pieces as individual garments, then I started designing collections with themes and stories. My focus has always been to create wearable clothing with great materials, but I initially wanted to destroy those materials and give the garment some 'wear,' right off the rack. Now, I really appreciate the long term connection between the wearer and a garment. The goal is to have the piece get better with age and wear.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: There is some great outerwear in the collection. Can you touch on the importance of functional outerwear for urban living?\n\nYoda: I live in New York year round nowadays, and this city throws everything it has at you! I've been enjoying a day full of sunshine and had rain and hail start pouring down on me, I have also had to shovel myself out of my apartment after a storm. With all this unpredictability, I think it goes back to presentability. If you have clothing that can look amazing and serve a purpose it just adds value and you are likely to wear it more often. I am designing with materials that will stand the test of time, and want them to perform as such.\n\nGQ: What would be three words you'd like people to associate with Aloha Rag (AR) as a collection?\n\nYoda: Quality, construction and point of view.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: Being a buyer and a retailer for so long, what are your thoughts on the current selection available in menswear? Are you happy with what is out there right now? What direction are you looking to go in as you continue to build your brand?\n\nYoda: It's been an amazing ride! I started buying vintage pieces 25 years ago and opened Aloha Rag 20 years ago, this year! Menswear has always been a great joy of mine because I get to wear it and put it to use. My current feelings about menswear can be summed up in my recent buys for Aloha Rag. There is great things still coming out of out high-fashion houses like YSL, Lanvin, and Maison Martin Margiela; and although it's not a new concept by any means, I really enjoy the idea of collaborations.\n\nTwo projects I'm looking forward to are: Carhartt and Adam Kimmel and Undercover and Nike with Gyakusou. We have two collaborations in our Aloha Rag men's collection. We did a tote with cult bag maker Master-piece, and a pair of jeans with a traditional Japanese denim brand, Big John, whose jeans I wore as a teenager! We did cashmere this season for the first time, and it sold like crazy. It is the flexibility in direction that I enjoy as a designer, the ability to change my mind as I do during everyday life! But the clothing always needs to be wearable and accessible."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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