akinori isobe was originally the company president of atsuki oonishi, a popular women's clothing store, and left the company in 1988 to start up baby, the stars shine bright with his wife, fumiyo. according to isobe, he saw the phrase "baby, the stars shine bright" on a page in a magazine, thought it was cute, and decided to use it as the name of his new brand. at the time, however, he did not know that it was the title of an album by everything but the girl.