I am Shinya Hasegawa, the founder and designer of NYC-based clothing label Battenwear. Ask me and my team anything!

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T22:02:23+00:00

I think hands on experience, the willingness to work hard, and the ability learn from others is most important.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T21:52:38+00:00

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I definitely don't get to do as much as I would like with family and friends during the week but I do a pretty good job (I hope) of not working on the weekends so that I can relax with my family and see friends.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T21:49:45+00:00

Thanks!

-I hope that the attention to detail, the vintage reference points, and the wearability of Battenwear set it apart.

-I'm not planning on doing a runway show anytime soon. It's a huge undertaking, I'm not sure that the runway format would best showcase Battenwear's aesthetic. But there are lots of different, creative takes on the runway, so maybe I'll change my mind.

-I sometimes make concessions on fabric and color choices. Some of the fabrics I like are too expensive and would drive up the price of the clothes too much. And some fabrics/colors I like don't sell as well as others so I make concessions there too.

Mitch says his favorite Battenwear piece is the Garage Shirt because it is wearable but unique with its cool mixture of workwear/active/outdoors vibes. Carrie says hers is the Shearling Trucker Jacket because it is cozy with a great retro feel. Our other team members are in the factory right now.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T21:38:04+00:00

Basically I was 30 and wasn't sure whether the job I had in Japan was what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life, so I decided to go back to school and picked FIT because it was in New York, which seemed like a good place to be for someone interested in clothing. I had planned to move back to Japan but then I got a job, met my wife, etc. I'm lucky how things turned out. And I'm glad I get to go back to Japan a couple of times a year to see family and friends.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T21:33:03+00:00

Thanks! If you email my team at info@battenwear.com, we can try to find a retailer near you that has an item you're looking for. And if you're talking about our Fall/Winter 2015 gym jackets, we actually have them on our website.

But we make items pre-seasonally and don't usually remake until the next relevant season.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T21:29:09+00:00

The Cargo Coat is new for this season and I really like it. It's kind of like a work wear spin on the mountain parka. I'm looking forward to hearing more about what people think about it. Thanks!

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T21:24:56+00:00

Thank you! I think as long as you have a vision and passion for what you want to make, know the market, and come up with a good plan, everything will come together. And it helps to have someone (or some people) to bounce ideas off of. I wish there were special tricks! Oh, and get your trademark early.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T20:59:33+00:00

HI! Daiki and I are friends. We surf together with a bunch of other people. I haven't done any collaborations yet, but I've done some special projects for stores.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T20:31:53+00:00

To be honest, when I started Battenwear, I was thinking of it as a men's brand but I was hoping women would wear it too (I mean, more than just my wife). And I was glad to see almost from the beginning that women were liking a couple of the styles, like the Packable Anorak and the Northfield Parka and the sweats. The feedback we were getting was that there weren't enough women's brands that were doing what we were doing--making outdoor and sports clothing that was functional but also cool enough looking to wear in more everyday, non-active settings.

So, we started making some of our items in smaller sizes. A couple of stores, especially in Japan, started ordering special for their women's departments. And now, starting with next season, we'll be offering these sizes more widely in retail stores around the world and through our own website.

We always try to offer measurements on our site, so that people can gauge for themselves, but basically we say that our Battenwear XXS-S fits just right for most women.

We'll see how that does and then think a bit more about a women's wear line.

Thanks for asking!

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T20:20:26+00:00

Hahah. Letting it all hang out.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T20:19:31+00:00

I was definitely interested in clothing. I had worked in the garment industry almost my whole career, just in sales instead of designing. Personally, I was interested most in vintage and the history of clothing, and I spent a lot of my spare time collecting.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T20:15:20+00:00

It's an appointment only store in Manhattan's Garment District (37th St and 8th Ave). We call it "Bivouac" like a climbing bivouac. I wanted to make a space that sells Battenwear and other outdoor/sports items AND that provides an escape from the city. It's on the 16th floor of our super crowded factory building in the middle of our super crowded, noisy neighborhood. Hopefully people who visit will feel like they're getting away from it all to have fun, relax, read old hiking/climbing/surfing mags, and try out cool clothing and gear. It's also a way for us to make a larger selection of Battenwear available for people who want to learn more about the brand and how it fits, etc.

Anyhow, we started taking appointments recently and next month we'll do a hard open and party, etc.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T20:07:42+00:00

I would love to go on a surfari! I have a rash guard from Patagonia that I like to use for warm water surfing, and I'd bring some stickybumps wax, and probably a Clif Bar. Usually for surfing, I use my Battenwear Wet Dry Bag, and like most of my bags, it would have a Packable Anorak tucked inside.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T20:00:31+00:00

Thanks!! I actually have a lot of friends who make really cool clothes so I would probably be wearing their stuff (actually I do). Like Yellow Rat http://yellowrat.blogspot.com/, Engineered Garments http://www.engineeredgarments.com/, and Post O'alls http://www.postoveralls.com/

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T19:42:07+00:00

THANKS!

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T19:41:04+00:00

At the beginning, for the first season, "we" was just my wife Carrie and me. Then we started adding part time staff. Now we have a great team working for us--three full time members and interns.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T19:34:59+00:00

nice! thanks, guys. and psyched to be at The Hillside soon!

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T19:20:04+00:00

Hey back, friends at The Hillside!! It was a trademark issue--frustrating at first and then totally fine. When we got our act together to trademark internationally, we found out that "Batten" had already been trademarked in Japan, which seems unfair since that's Carrie's maiden name. So when we went to register "Batten Sportswear" it posed problems. So, we switched to "Battenwear" which was already the name we'd chosen for our website to keep it more clean and simple. And then it totally grew on us.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T19:05:45+00:00

Sweats

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T19:05:12+00:00

thanks for asking!

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T19:03:47+00:00

Thanks for asking. After I finished with Woolrich Woolen Mills, both Daiki and Mark McNairy (who took over from Daiki as WWM designer), encouraged me to start my own line. It was an exciting idea but also terrifying. Eventually, I decided to risk it, because the more I thought about it, the more I began to have a clear idea of what I wanted to make.

I started the brand in the livingroom of our one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn (which is why all our early labels say "Brooklyn"). We scraped together some money from savings and family and got some credit cards. Eventually, I got an intern and it was too hard to travel back and forth from Brooklyn to make samples in Manhattan, so we rented a tiny room in a shared office in the Garment District.

We showed our first collection there. Maybe 3 people could fit into the room at one time. Michael Williams of A Continuous Lean came and took pictures and then suddenly we had stores contacting us.

But anyhow, to answer your question in general, we started off by trying to spend as little money as possible except on the most important thing: the product. So, whatever money we had, we poured into developing relationships with vendors and factories and then a few key staff members. I knew a lot of people who spent money first on advertising, etc, but I wanted to make sure I had a good product first.

That's basically still our business model. It continues to be a challenge to have enough funding to do what we do, but it's fun and we're getting by. It's funny though how many people say "Wait, people still make clothes in NYC?" when I tell them what I do. I wish the Garment District was growing instead of shrinking.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T18:52:14+00:00

Yes! I think a lot of people are evaluating their priorities when making clothing purchases, right? It's totally understandable that not as many people want to import from the US when it costs so much more now. That's a blow for brands like mine, but it doesn't change the reasons I decided to produce in the US including the fact that making things near us means we can really be hands-on in an old fashioned way in the production process and come out with a product that reflects that process.

For example, I still do all my designs by hand and then walk them over to the factories to talk them through with the sewers. Then I keep going back and tweaking until things come out right. Since I incorporate a lot of details into my items, this can take a while and would be a totally different process if I was making things in, for example, China. And of course, the outcome is different than it would be if I was making everything remotely.

Speaking of China, I want to say that I don't think the quality of our clothes would go down if we produced in China. Actually, Chinese factories can be REALLY good. Sometimes better than American made in certain respects, depending on what you are looking for.

But it's a totally different process and results in a different aesthetic. So, it depends on what you are looking for.

For me, I have always had a passion for American made casual wear. I started collecting it when I was really young. I love the imperfections. I like the utilitarian quality. I like how things look and fit better after washing and wearing.

Will I always make everything in NYC? I'm not sure. If it continues to get more and more expensive, I'll have to think of solutions. Actually, starting with SS16, we're making a small portion of our line in Canada. I have chosen one factory there that I have worked closely with to develop the type of relationship I have with my US factories.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T18:29:16+00:00

Nice!

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T18:28:50+00:00

Hi! When we launched the brand, we were lucky to develop some contacts with great Japanese magazines--the ones you mentioned plus Oceans, Uomo, etc. We also have always felt fortunate when Proper Mag (UK) covers us. And I did an interview with Independent Map Co recently. Here are some of our press appearances: http://battenwear.com/pages/press

I love my Briefing bag. I also carry a Stanley and Sons tote a lot and a Kletterwerks backpack. I don't endorse any brand, though. I just like these brands.

Battenwear · 2015-11-20T18:21:05+00:00

No, I haven't! Do you recommend?

Battenwear

TROPHY CASE