Expressing the world of West Side Story
with NEEDLES’ aesthetics
Having classical American styles and tastes as the core, NEEDLES has been offering unique clothes by mixing various fashion elements and keywords such as the American Trad style, workwear, Western, athletic wear, hippie culture and exoticism. The brand’s fall/winter 2022 collection is filled with the mood of New York City in the late 1950s with a series of clothes and accessories inspired by the costume of the West Side Story film, yet with some NEEDLES twists.
- Looking back at the past collections, I think NEEDLES rarely set a particular seasonal theme for each collection. What is the reason you chose West Side Story as the theme of this season’s collection?
- There was no particular reason, but if I have to say, it all began when I read an Internet news article about Steven Spielberg’s remake film of West Side Story was going to be released. Because the trailer and stills of the movie was not yet available back then, I just let my imagination run wild about how I could interpret the costume for the latest version of West Side Story, thinking what kind of clothes look nice in it.
- Then you got the idea to express the world of West Side Story with NEEDLES’ aesthetics.
- Yes, I also took some elements from Saturday Night Fever, a movie set in the 1970s, and incorporated them into my collection along with the 1950s designs.
- In a past interview, you mentioned that American Graffiti has been one of the most inspirational movies for you since you first saw it when you were a first grader of high school. Is West Side Story as influential as the movie for you?
- West Side Story was my first Western movie. In that sense, it blew my mind more than American Graffiti, I think. I got a huge culture shock. It was when I was not really into fashion, but all the gangs in the movie looked so cool for me because I was a kid who looked up to stylish, cultured adults such as Dick Mine, Chiemi Eri and Fubuki Koshiji.
- You then became absorbed in American culture after learning about the Ivy League style and Made in U.S.A. catalog. Considering that, the experience of seeing the movie might be a kind of starting point for you.
- I think so. I design a collection for NEEDLES by taking inspirations from various elements and keywords according to my mood of the season. And West Side Story has always affected me in a way, I think. This season’s collection reflects the influence more clearly than ever.
Imitating how Bernardo dresses
during high school years
Shimizu’s father used to run two movie theaters in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture. Therefore, movies have been something very familiar for him as far as he can remember. His father’s theaters were one of his afterschool playgrounds and his family’s bookshelf was filled with a collection of movie magazines that his father subscribed monthly. It’s no wonder that he became interested in overseas movies before anyone else in the same grade.
- When did you see West Side Story for the first time?
- I listened to the music before seeing the movie itself. I somehow found the movie’s soundtrack record owned by my father, and listened to it out of curiosity without knowing anything about the movie.
- When was it?
- It was around when I was in the fourth grade of elementary school, I think. Around that time, I got interested in overseas movies and TV dramas, watching a Western TV series called Rawhide. But I didn’t know even the word “musical” at that time, and all the songs in the record were sung as if spoken unlike pop songs I used to listen to. I was really confused (laugh). “Cool” was my favorite song and I repeatedly listened to it.
- Did you see the movie soon after that?
- No, we didn’t even have a rental store back then. I think it was after a year or so that I could see the movie at my father’s theater when it was screened there.
- How was it?
- It starts from the aerial shot of New York City and then the scene is switched to a small park between buildings where the members of the Jets start dancing while snapping their fingers. The opening scene really grabbed my attention (laugh). I was completely absorbed in seeing the rest of the movie. After that, I frequented the theater to see it over and over again, while checking my father’s Screen magazine to find and read articles about West Side Story.
- Did you have any favorite character?
- It must be Bernardo, the Sharks’ leader played by George Chakiris. He looks absolutely cool in a purple shirt and a black suit at a dance party. I was too young to wear like him at that time, but I imitated his fashion around when I was a high school student, wearing a garrison belt with the square buckle shifted a little to right and sporting Levi’s Sta-Prest-like slim pants.
“Printed flannel shirts”,
“star patterns” and “blousons” are the
keywords of this season
Looking at each piece in the latest collection of NEEDELS, you may realize that all the signature items, from the coach jacket, the cowboy shirt to the track suit, remain in the lineup. Many of them are made of the brand’s original fabrics with various colors and patterns, including exotic multi stripes, retro Damascus and tri-color dots.
- Your brand’s latest collection seems to mainly consist of the signature pieces. How did you incorporate this season’s theme into it?
- Items I made for this season are basically same as usual, because my favorite things have not changed (laugh). Though I chose the patterns and colors with the theme in mind, nothing other changed in terms of design.
- Then which piece do you think reflects your mood of this season most?
- One of them is the ONE-UP SHIRT made of printed flannel. I designed it with five different patterns that are reminiscent of the era. Another one is the star pattern 2B JACKET and the matching SIDE TAB TROUSER. I personally love this pattern so much that I’m planning to make a non-collection shirt and mohair sweater with it in a different color to offer only at NEPENTHES stores.
- Is there any item designed based on a particular piece of clothes worn in West Side Story?
- It’s the blouson worn by the members of the Jets when Ice sings “Cool” to his revengeful buddies after a duel. I had made a similar jacket for NEEDLES before and designed a new one for this collection. If I say that a set of clothes worn by the famous villain Scorpio from Dirty Harry is my number one cinema fashion, the blouson worn by the Jets should come next. I love the item that much.
- Have you been inspired by other 1960s and 1970s movies you saw in your youth just like West Side Story influenced your clothing design?
- From Dirty Harry to John and Mary to Kramer vs. Kramer to Serpico, there are many movies from which I got inspired. West Side Story is, however, not a movie that sometimes comes back to my mind, but a movie that always stays with me as cool stuff. It’s difficult to share the coolness with others, though, because it’s not really obvious.
- The signature color of NEEDLES is purple and the brand’s first track pants were designed in black with purple stripes. It may be said that all those things originate from Bernardo’s clothes for a dance party you mentioned earlier.
- I think so. Of course that’s not the only reason that I like purple, but I’m sure that the scene made me glued to purple clothes for the first time in my life.
WEST SIDE STORY
A 1957 Broadway musical adapted into a film in 1961. In the end of 1950s, there are many immigrants living in New York City with dreams and a hope for success. On the West Side, groups of youth gangs struggling with poverty and discrimination frequently come into conflict with each other. Maria is a girl whose brother is a leader of a Puerto Rican group, the Sharks. When she meets Tony, the former leader of the Jets, the two instantly fall in love although the group of white youth is the rival of the Sharks. The forbidden love of Maria and Tony leads the drastic changes in the lives of people around them… Co-directed and -produced by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, this movie won ten Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director in 1962.
© 2012 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.