The Kaptain of Quiet Quality Plots a Path Overseas (EXCLUSIVE)
Kaptain Sunshine's approach to clothing is as quiet as its name is not. The moniker may sound zany but these ageless garments are no joke, produced with slow-fashion patience and cut with a clarity innate to modern menswear. Sure, there are houndstooth blazers and polo sweaters but also skater jeans and hemp workwear jackets.
Kaptain Sunshine can do it all. And then some! Less than a year after opening its first flagship store in Tokyo's Aoyama neighborhood, it's already cutting the tape on its second directly managed store. This time, the sun also rises on Seoul.
Many of the more successful Japanese clothing imprints, including ssstein and AURALEE, operate their own domestic stores. But very few set up shop overseas. There's a keep-it-close tendency that encourages these brands, which produce most clothes locally and rely on a strong foundation of Japanese clientele, to allow international stockists to distribute their wares on their behalf.
Kaptain Sunshine isn't the exception here, what with several dozen global retail partners spreading the good word abroad. But there's a universe of difference between selling to a third-party store and selling direct to your customer. And Kaptain Sunshine designer Shinsuke Kojima knows that there are plenty of Kaptain Sunshine customers in Seoul.
"Now feels like the right moment to... create a space where people can experience our world firsthand, surrounded by the full expression of our collection in one place," Kojima tells Highsnobiety. "[Customer] enthusiasm has allowed us to witness firsthand the growing global appreciation for our work and the increasing demand for our presence abroad."
Seoul, a uniquely omnivorous fashion capital, was a natural choice for Kaptain Sunshine's first international outpost. Kojima notes the city's "strong network of retailers and friends" that've supported his label, including the seven local boutiques that already carry Kaptain Sunshine.
Shinsegae Department Store, the host of Kaptain Sunshine's new store, was not already one of them, so there's ample room for worldbuilding. Visit this flagship space to immerse in the Kaptain's world of dry denim jackets and shaggy wool overcoats or visit another Seoul stockist for a distinct perspective.
This kind of swift but sincere expansion is unusual in the world of quiet menswear, where many makers operate without a single retail space or sometimes even a social media page. When the focus is on slow craft, growth is similarly leisurely. But Kaptain Sunshine has been at it for 12 years, so these big steps were paid for in advance.
"I’m eager to embrace new challenges and explore opportunities beyond neighboring Asia, wherever we can authentically express our identity and values," says Kojima, who clarifies that Kaptain Sunshine has no additional plans for international expansion just yet. There's still much to be done at home: "This vision applies equally to Japan," he adds.
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