Tommy Ogara

HS: What’s your background, and what is your daily activity for Dita?

Tommy: I’ve been living in Japan for about 25 years. The last 8, close to 9 years, I’ve been doing Dita. What we did was took Dita from being a street brand to a fashion eyewear brand during the last six years. Basically, that takes most of my time that I’m awake and rolling.

HS: Tell me a little about how you got to Japan?

Tommy: I’ve lived in Japan for the last 25 years. I went to the University of Nebraska, but then came here for graduate school. I ended up staying. I worked with Rick from Fresh Jive. I did work with Hysteric Glamour and ended up doing kids cloths. I even did a building in Harajuku. I brought Houston before everything started popping there. Before the art scene really started happening here I brought Matt Houston, the Return of Houston, here when I did a building in Harajuku. Like I said, for the last 8 or 9 years I’ve been doing Dita. That’s where I’m at and it takes all my time.

HS: Did you go to go to graduate school for industrial design?

Tommy: It was product design and space generated design. Space generated design is interesting, if you are thinking out side of the box, it is the negative space. Like, when I do a store in Japan or Asia that’s when it really kicks in. Our little store in Daikanyama, everyone said why do you want to put a store there. I thought, well it’s not on a main street, it’s on a little side street, it’s a secret store. A tiny place, but it’s the perfect space and a great reflection of the company. We are an underground brand, we are independent, and we kind of roll on our own.

I guess some of my background pushed me into doing some of these things that normally people don’t do. Sort of like, a little more on the edge rather than trying to be on main street with a big logo glowing in lights. It’s kind of a weird thing, but aside from product design the space generated design pushed me into a philosophical place where you’re doing what you’re doing, what you want to do. It’s really funny and weird.

I lived in my little studio in Nebraska, right behind the football stadium for a couple years, and it was really an experience. And, then I came here and it was completely different. Walk on the left, you know. It was really weird, but it is a good juxtaposition of life. You don’t think of someone from Nebraska ending up in Tokyo.

HS: I went to Wisconsin, so our Football wasn’t much different from your experience I imagine.

Tommy: Yeah, Football Saturdays I had people looking down the driveway while I’m busting out design work. Then, I ended up in Japan when there really weren’t that many foreigners here. In the 1980s. A lot of that has put me where I am at. I’ve never worked for a company, I have always been a company.