Cotton Sheep in Hayes Valley talks men’s fashion & “The Look.”
Cotton Sheep. Is it a restaurant? A café? Fabric store? None of the above! This Hayes Valley clothing boutique handpicks merchandise from Japanese retailers and designers. #TeamJST got to meet Rue, the store owner’s son, to learn about the store’s (incredibly interesting!) origins and Japanese fashion.
Q: What was the inspiration for starting Cotton Sheep?
A: When I was around two years old, my parents and I moved from Osaka to San Francisco. To make a living, my parents worked as “pickers” – we started out in the Bay Area scavenging through flea markets and thrift stores. This was at a time when the Japanese were getting obsessed with American culture: everything from a pair of Levi’s jeans from the early 1900s or iconic novelty items of America. As we quickly wrung the Bay Area dry of vintage clothing, we hit the road and traveled across the US, with our Chevy Astor as our office. We conveniently became friends with a Japanese couple with a vintage clothing store in Osaka. This led to a year of road tripping across the country, feeding the Japanese frenzy for Levi’s 501 jeans, Raggedy Ann Dolls, and anything funky or cool.
We eventually moved back to Japan and lived in Osaka until I was ten, only to return again to San Francisco. My father had a record store called BPM Records across the street from where Cotton Sheep stands now. The record store would have inevitably come to an end, so we turned it into a Japanese imported clothing store and went back to what we do best: finding great clothes and items that are unique and well made and giving people an opportunity to own them…except vice-versa from back then!
Q: What is it about Japanese fashion that you love?
A: My favorite thing about Japan probably comes from its perfect balance of simplicity and complexity, along with its extraordinary use of fabrics. The Japanese concept of shibui and wabi sabi sum up most of my appeal and personal obsession with certain brand that we carry such as Kapital and Fagassent. One thing every person who comes into our store needs to do to appreciate the clothing is to simply touch and feel the difference from many other commonly found brands.
Q: Who is your favorite Japanese designer?
A: My favorite designer is Kiro Hirata, the main designer of Kapital and coming in a close second is Aoki Toshiki, the main designer at Fagassent. Both brands hail from Kojima, Okayama-ken and they are my favorite because of their fearless approach and keen attention to detail and fabrics. Kiro takes the top spot because pretty much every Kapital piece I have can be worn by a lady and she’d look great! Mr. Hirata strongly stress uni-sex. He’s brilliant!
Q: What is your favorite piece in the store right now?
A: My favorite piece at the store right now is the Dart Jacket by Aoki Toshiki of the Fagassent brand. It’s a dark indigo that is so dark it has a slight green hue to it. It’s slim and if you fit it I can guarantee that you’ll feel ridiculously cool and smooth.
Q: What’s your go-to San Francisco clothing store?
A: Other than Cotton Sheep (my paycheck predominantly go right back into the store due to my obsession with Kapital) I would probably check out Self Edge, Afterlife, and the thrift stores on Valencia Street between 15th and 22nd.
We asked Rue to put an outfit together for a chilly winter day in San Francisco.
THE LOOK: I’d go with my 45 rpm Indigo long t-shirt, Fagassent Jesus silhouette blue jeans, pair of Kapital Chimayo Socks, Fagassent Dart jacket, Orange Kapital Shetland linen scarf, and finish it off with my favorite beanie that my ex-girlfriend knitted me.
PHOTO COTTON SHEEP
