Post something here, anything at all

Takashi Tateno might not have been the first to introduce you to the beauty of American workwear but he probably comes close. He is responsible for the incredibly successful Workers website that documents American workwear through extensive research and historical materials. Unfortunately for us, most of his research is in Japanese, we’re only left to admire the archival photos. After designing a bag and publishing it on his site, he was encouraged by his loyal readers to make them available to the public. Since then, he has designed and created a number of garments and accessories painstakingly replicating the stitching and detailing of the originals. Tateno is the sole proprietor Workers managing every aspect of the company, we were able to stop by his store in Kurashiki, about five hours southwest of Tokyo, to talk to him about his obsession with American workwear.

When did Workers start?
2004

Did e-workers begin as a blog and evolve into producing clothes?
No, e-workers was originally a website that introduce work clothes, its history and ads.

What did you do before Workers?
I grew up in Saitama Prefecture and graduated from the University with a degree from the department of economics, and eventually went on to Bunka Fashion School to study basic skills in garment construction. After graduation I moved to Okayama Prefecture where I found a job at a sewing factory. My duties included cleaning the cutting floor, cutting fabrics, sewing parts, driving, calculating cost, quality control, factory management, and sales. But it was a great learning experience. The factory was small, so I was doing it all from accepting the orders to making the clothes.

During the evenings, I would work on my own designs, drawing the patterns, cutting the fabrics, and sewing them. I made jeans, sack coats, and work shirts. I was in search of a particular shape and silhouette and gradually was able to make the patterns that I wanted. But it was a challenge because work clothes were sewn by special sewing machines that used various attachments.

I paid particular attention to the details in the clothes. For instance, the front placket of almost all old work shirts are chain stitched. Some were two, while others were four stitches. The width of the plackets are similar. I asked a lot of people as I researched. Everyone from factory workers, sewing machine specialist, to my boss. One by one, I gradually understood which sewing machines and attachments were needed. As I further researched I began to fall in love with old work clothes. Not only the clothes themselves, but the manufactures, the history, and the ads.

However, during the middle of the last decade, people were not as interested about work clothes, like chambray shirts or railroad jackets. So in 2005, I started a website called “WORKERS,” to show the beauty in vintage clothes, its history, and the ads as a way to share my research. Initially, I didn’t imagine I would be selling clothes from my website. But at the end of 2006, I made a newspaper bag and showed it on WORKERS. I recieved e-mails from people telling me to sell it. I was shocked. I didn’t think people would be interested in it. By 2007, I started taking orders for the bag and was shocked again by the number of people who wanted to buy it. It was more than I had anticipated.

So that’s when I decided to start making clothes. I thought about it carefully, and chose to make a work shirt referencing shirts and jackets from Reliance MFG, Railroad Jackets, and ads from HEADLIGHT.

I didn’t know how to make the Wabash fabric. So on September, I traveled to the US for the first time. Went to West Virginia and the archive of J.L. Stifel and Sons. I found some reports from the 1940’s and I was able to understand the basic method of making that kind of fabric. I brought that information back to Japan and asked a fabric manufacturer replicate it.

Do you have formal training in designing and producing clothes or are you self taught?
Yes, I went to Bunka fashion college. But I was only taught the basic clothing construction for shirts, pants, and women’s coats. I studied making work clothes on my own. Fortunately I had a good friend who worked at Kojima and he knew how to make jeans. He taught me the process of making a pair of jeans step by step. After graduating Bunka fashion college, I got a job at a factory in Kojima. There I was able to learn a lot from the sewers, cutters, pattern makers and others.

When did your interest in American workwear start?
It was in 1999 when I was at university. I worked at a large book store in Tokyo, and found one book by chance. The book was called "WORKERS,” and cost about 4000 Yen. It was quite expensive for a student, but I bought it anyway. The book contained ads and catalogs of work clothes.

What is it about American workwear that excites you?
The mass production behind it all. The use of so many different sewing machines made the clothing designs more special than any other country’s work clothes.

What decades of American workwear is your clothing based off of?
Mainly 1900 to 1960 to 70.

Is there an era in American workwear that is particular interesting to you?
1900-10. I have some ads from this era, and there are many special designs from it. These designs were gone by the 1910-30.

Do you recreate and replicate original garments or do you take inspiration from and turn them into new designs?
It depends on the circumstance. I mainly try and replicate original garments by studying how they’re made, what kind of sewing machines and attachments need to be used. There are times when I can’t do them the same way because they are made from different sewing machines or fabrics. I start by replicating them, study the details deeply and well enough, then from there I can start making new designs and details.

There are a lot of details in your clothing. Do you make the hardware as well? Buttons, zippers buckles?
I would ask the suppliers to make some of the hardware. Like the buttons and buckles. Fortunately there are great manufacturers for zipper, so I ask them to order the best zippers, like TALON, WALDES, HOOKLESS.

Can you take us through how you go about making a new garment?
I start off by asking myself what I want to wear for next season, how do I feel when I wear my clothes and can I find something that can make the clothes better? Then I would write the specs, sometime I would draw the designs, but I don’t usually do that because I make the patterns on my own. So there’s no need to draw the designs, just a memo of specs. I would then make the pattens and samples, some I would make on my own, especially the items that are made for the first time.

How often do you introduce a new product? Is it seasonal or do you show new designs whenever they are ready?
I make three or four new products per month. But I’ll be reducing that this year. I want to spend more time making clothes as well as new designs.

Aside from the hats, do you make any accessories? Belts, socks, bandannas?
I used to make bandannas, ties and belts but they’re small products. Because I worked at a sewing factory that mainly sew jeans, work shirt, western shirt, etc.

You’re very thorough with your research. How do you find your information?
I start with the Internet. ebay, world cat, google books, google patent, and US trademark office are other resources. If these didn’t exist, I wouldn’t be able to do my research.

Has Levi’s or any other large companies approached you to help with design or research?
I haven’t from Levi’s, but one other company did ask me. I ask them what kind of ads and information they wanted. They say “Everything.” I didn’t have enough time to give them
everything, so I wasn’t able to work with them.

How big is your store?
Very small. 5*5 M.

Is your workspace in another location or in the same building?
My workspace is at another place.

In your shop, where are your customers from? All over the world?
Yes, Japan and world.

On your site, where are your customers from? All over the world?
They’re mainly from Japan but I have customers from all over the world. The US, Canada, UK, Norway, Italy, France, Brazil, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Australia and so on.

What does K&TH stand for?
K is for the factory that I used to work at, T is for my name and H is the initial of "Houseim,” which means “Sewing” in Japanese.

My company is WORKERS Co Ltd, and K&T H MFG Co is the brand of WORKERS. I also have other brands like K&T H FINE SHIRT MAKERS and Best quality clothes for RAILROADERS. These brands are used per item.

Do you have interest in workwear from other countries? Possibly British?
Not currently, I don’t have much interest in other countries without the US.

Do you have any interest in opening another store? Possibly in Tokyo?
No, but I want to open a pop-up shop or something in Tokyo in near future.

What are your plans for the future?
Making new items and new fabrics. I will start making samples on my own again this year. I have some new sewing machines in my new work space.