A brand looking ahead to its 20th year after a variety of activities
FACETASM, launched by Hiromichi Ochiai in 2007, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the collection to be released in spring/summer 2026.
Since designing the costumes for the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ochiai has been active outside of the brand, serving as creative director for FamilyMart's convenience wear and chief design officer for the Tsuneishi Group, which is involved in shipbuilding and shipping. What phase is FACETASM currently in?
"Right now, I'm working with a variety of companies, so I've accumulated a huge amount of input. At Tsuneishi in particular, I've worked with many architects, such as Junya Ishigami and Ultra Studio, and I've gained a lot of insights that I wouldn't have gained if I'd only been working on FACETASM. I think I'm now in the phase of giving that back to FACETASM. I'm excited to see what output I can bring to the 20th anniversary."
It could be said that this mutual cycle has already begun. In fact, the FACETASM 2025-26 Autumn/Winter collection was inspired by the "Be Kind" concept of the LOG Hotel in Onomichi, which was designed by Bijoy Jain of the architectural group Studio Mumbai and led by the Tsuneishi Group.
The iconic item for FACETASM's 2025-26 Autumn/Winter collection, this original blackwatch shirt, shows Ochiai's love for Ralph Lauren. 
These are some of the many collaborative products they have produced, including uniforms made with Older Studio.
Sending social messages through "convenience wear"
So how does Ochiai approach the design of "Convenience Wear," which will be celebrating its fifth year in 2025? At first glance, it seems that the creative vectors of FACETASM, which has a strong contemporary element, are polar opposites, but is there a connection between them in Ochiai's mind?
"My formative experience with fashion was with Ralph Lauren. I discovered the big polo when I was in junior high school, and later, at a parallel import store called Neverland in Daikanyama that I used to frequent, I was shocked to see a Ralph Lauren picnic belt for holding spoons and forks being sold as a bracelet.
In other words, I have always been drawn to the slightly off-beat aspects of classic brands, and I think that naturally comes out in the designs of FACETASM without me even realizing it. However, by extension, I have also been attracted to the beauty of mass production.
For example, Hanes pack T-shirts or Levi's 501s. I can definitely find inspiration for my style in things like that, so as a designer, I don't feel uncomfortable creating "convenience wear."
A collection of "convenience wear" items. The photo T-shirt is a collaboration between Ochiai and photographer Yoshiyuki Okuyama's project, Tokyo Sequence. 
This is the FACETASM jacket that Ochiai would like to wear in the fall and winter of 2025.
"However," Ochiai continues, "in the case of Convenience Wear, where he handles everything as creative director, he feels a stronger desire to "create a new clothing culture."
"That's because FamilyMart has about 16,000 stores across the country, and a total of 5.5 billion people use them in a year. In other words, most customers don't know me. Since I'm making clothes in such a place, I want to send a proper message.
As for socks, around February they release cherry blossom or light green socks to say, "Do you feel like spring is coming?", or neon colors to say, "Let's cheer up now that the COVID-19 pandemic is over." It's like playing catch with the customers, and it's really interesting. People with all kinds of backgrounds come to convenience stores, and naturally some of them have social issues.
So, what kind of problems are occurring in society today, and what can FamilyMart do to address them? Recently, products developed through such discussions have been coming into being little by little. This is a positive thing for me, and I learn from it. My mission now is to connect this to the next product."
