Clothes that reflect the designer's spirit are like art
Tadayuki Kato is a self-proclaimed shopping master. As a buyer at one of Japan's leading select shops, he is no exception to the rule of connoisseurship. The maison brands he collected between the late 1990s and the early 2000s are the source of his own creations.
"Even back then, Maison Martin Margiela (now Maison Margiela) and Helmut Lang were hugely popular, but the prices of the collections designed by Martin Margiela himself from Spring/Summer 1989 to Spring/Summer 2009 have skyrocketed worldwide. Of these, I particularly loved the military jackets from the Artisanal Line, which was launched in 1991. They were made by dismantling old clothes and reconstructing them into new pieces, so they almost feel more like one-of-a-kind art pieces than just clothing.
After that, remade items became really popular, and I think Margiela was definitely the one who started it. I have a weakness for military items by designers, and I'm drawn to punk and military items made by maison brands that make elegant clothes."
The artisanal line, which is made by processing and reconstructing old clothes, was made by hand, so there were only a few of them to begin with and they are now rarely available on the market.
The calendar tag is marked by the numbers "0" and "10" surrounded by circles. 
"It's a military jacket from the 1950s that was reconstructed using parts of a German military quilted jacket, with new mouton on the collar and pockets. I think it was worth around several hundred thousand yen at the time, but if you bought it now it would probably cost twice as much."
"After I bought the olive one above, I found out that there was a black one, so I tracked it down and bought that color as well. The black one is even rarer, so it's a precious piece."
Although clothing has a clear set price as a product, the price can sometimes go up when added value is added.
"The fashion industry has long had people known as 'opinion leaders,' and when a brand catches their eye, its value rises, making it difficult to obtain and leading to skyrocketing prices. However, clothes like Margiela's, which are made with the maker's heart and soul, continue to be loved and timeless, transcending the ages. I believe that this is where the value of the item lies."
Since its first appearance in the 1997 Autumn/Winter collection, it has been one of the brand's iconic items.
