IKEUCHI ORGANIC would not exist without Mr. Kenmei Nagaoka. The “father of two” talks about the birth of IKEUCHI ORGANIC [Tokyo Store 5th Anniversary Event Report

IKEUCHI ORGANIC has two fathers.

One is Mr. Ikeuchi, the president of IKEUCHI ORGANIC. The other is Mr. Kenmei NAGAOKA, the president of D&DEPARTMENT, which stands for “long-life design.

Five years ago, on March 1, 2014, Ikeuchi Towel was reborn as IKEUCHI ORGANIC.

Mr. Nagaoka designed the name “IKEUCHI ORGANIC,” Ikeuchi’s symbolic logo and corporate colors, and the so-called “corporate identity” (CI).

On March 18 of the same year, Ikeuchi opened its first directly managed store outside of Imabari, the Tokyo Store, and Mr. Nagaoka also supervised the store design.

In other words, without Mr. Nagaoka, IKEUCHI ORGANIC would not exist.

To commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Tokyo Store, we held a talk show with Mr. Nagaoka and Representative Ikeuchi on March 6, 2019, to look back at the origin of IKEUCHI ORGANIC. Here is a digest of the show.

Mr. Nagaoka’s encounter with Ikeuchi.

Mr. Nagaoka: First of all, please introduce yourself.

Mr. Nagaoka: I have been running as fast as I can as a designer since I was 18 years old.
I have been running as fast as I could as a designer since I was 18 years old, but when I turned 30 years old, I had a question about design at that time. I wanted to see “what is the right design? I wanted to find out, and the store I created was “D&DEPARTMENT “.

Mr. Nagaoka:
Our selection criteria for the products we carry in this store are that they are “long-life designs “.

We believe that a long-lived design proven by time is the right one, and we sell mainly products that are more than 20 years old from the birth of the product at a fixed price.

Also, the term “long-life design” is often misunderstood as a denial of what is new, but this is not the case. We believe that good taste is created by combining the latest trends with standard items.

We believe that both the pleasure of incorporating new things and the healthiness of nurturing unchanging things will be necessary in the future.

Mr. Nagaoka:.
Around 2000, when D&DEPARTMENT was founded, I wanted to handle Ikeuchi towels in my store.

Ordinary towels are in their best condition when they are on display in the store, and people are impressed by their touch and buy them, but they change a little after washing.

On the other hand, Ikeuchi’s towels are left as they are in the store, and to be honest, the first impression is not so good. But the more you use them, the better they become.

I thought the quality of the towels as well as his attitude when selling them was wonderful.

Q: When did you first meet Mr. Ikeuchi?

Mr. NAGAOKA: I first met him at D&DEPARTMENT.
I think it was a while after D&DEPARTMENT started dealing in towels.

I had to go to Ehime Prefecture on business, so I contacted him, hoping to meet him. He immediately said, “I’ll pick you up and we’ll have a drink together,” and we went to about two places together. We got very drunk and I don’t remember what we talked about (laughs).

(laughs) Mr. Ikeuchi knew that D&DEPARTMENT had been handling Ikeuchi towels since the company was founded. We hit it off and became close friends in private from then on.

Reviewing the brand for the next 60 years.

ーー How did the branding to “IKEUCHI ORGANIC” in 2014 start?

Representative Ikeuchi:.
It all started the year before, in 2013, when I made an offer to Mr. Nagaoka.

At first, we did not intend to change the name of the company, but wanted to make sure that the branding of our own brand was strong.

At the time, our own brand was called “IKT. But our customers call us “Wind Woven Towels. And the company name was “Ikeuchi Towel. There are many different names, and it is complicated. Moreover, it takes about 90 minutes to explain the thoughts and background behind the products. We wanted to put all these things together in a neat way.

The year 2013 was just the 60th anniversary of the company’s founding. And the following year, 2014, was the 15th year since the birth of our own brand, IKT. When we reached these milestones and thought about the next 60 years, we decided to review the brand.

Q: Why did you choose Nagaoka as your consultant?

Representative Ikeuchi：
The basic premise was that I wanted someone who would listen to all of my ideas. In my experience, there are very few designers who listen to me carefully (laughs). (Laughs.) Based on our past relationship, I felt that Nagaoka would listen to me carefully.

Also, once we have asked a designer, we must believe in what he or she has created, or the branding will not work. I was confident that I could trust whatever Mr. Nagaoka decided on, so I asked him to do it.

Q: How did Mr. Nagaoka react to the offer from Mr. Ikeuchi?

Mr. Nagaoka: At first I refused.
I turned it down at first. At the time, the whole town of Imabari was working hard on branding the Imabari towel, so I thought there was someone better suited for the job than me.

But Mr. Ikeuchi was insistent (laughs). I turned him down twice.

Representative Ikeuchi: I had already made up my mind.
I had already made up my mind. I remember sending him an e-mail saying, “You must want to do it by now, don’t you? (laughs).

Mr. Nagaoka: “I’m not sure I want to do it now.
In the end, we decided not to make the job a temporary one, but to have Mr. Ikeuchi do D&DEPARTMENT’s work as well, on the condition that we would build an ongoing relationship with each other.

Aiming for the world’s organic standard.

Q: Where did the name “IKEUCHI ORGANIC” come from?

Mr. Nagaoka:.
As I talked with Mr. Ikeuchi, it seems that he is looking at the world, not at Imabari or Japan, and is thinking about organic products in terms of global standards.

There is a lacquer craftsman named Mr. Kirimoto who is a driving force in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, and what he makes is called “Kirimoto-nuri. What Mr. Kirimoto makes is called “Kirimoto-nuri.” It has already gone beyond Wajima-nuri.

I thought that what Mr. Ikeuchi is doing is the Ikeuchi style organic.

I never thought of changing the company name either, but when I heard that Ikeuchi is aiming to become the world’s organic standard, I felt it would be better to make it not only the brand name but also the company name, so I suggested it.

Q: Can you tell us about your thoughts behind the “I” logo design, which can be considered the symbol of Ikeuchi?

Photo credit:Lifestyle under the Lighthouse｜[IKEUCHI ORGANIC, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture] Design is not the end of the process. Let’s always grow together｜D&DEPARTMENT NAGAOKA KENMEI

Mr. Nagaoka:.
As for the design, it is very ordinary (laughs).

But I wanted a logo that was not too unique. Because I knew that in the near future, this company would go beyond towels and start doing various things related to organic products. In fact, you are actively involved in the development of clothing and baby products.

Also, I created the logo while imagining something like the earth or the sun. Actually, the horizontal bar of the “I” is not a straight line. The “I” was derived from the sphere of the earth, so if you zoom in, the line follows a circle.

Q: Representative Ikeuchi, what was your impression when you first saw it?

Representative Ikeuchi:
As a premise, I had intended from the beginning to work on the Ichi-Oshi that came from Mr. Nagaoka, so I had no intention to say anything about the design at all.

That is why I feel more comfortable with it now, five years later, than I did when I first saw it. I think it looks cool, if I do say so myself. When I see the “I” mark, I know it is “Ikeuchi.

I see that the name tag was also changed to the current one at this time, wasn’t it?

Mr. Nagaoka: Yes.
Yes, IKEUCHI ORGANIC towels have a yellow name tag on them, and this tag is also organic. So, when you buy a towel, wash it, and put it in the dryer, it gets crumpled.

You may think that the crumpled towels are of poor quality, but in fact, most of the towels in the world that claim to be organic are not organic in the tag part.

I suggested to Mr. Ikeuchi that Ikeuchi should make the tag part organic as well, and he agreed to do so because it would be interesting. The crumpled up part was also a part of Ikeuchi’s character. I like the story.

Representative Ikeuchi: I like the story.
But we made a double-layered structure so that it would not be crumpled.

Mr. Nagaoka: No, no, no.
No, no, no, it will be very crumpled.

Representative Ikeuchi: But it won’t get wrinkled.
But it won’t get wrinkled.

Mr. Nagaoka: Yes, that’s true.
Certainly, there will be no wrinkles. I can see your commitment to craftsmanship (laughs).

The person of Keiji Ikeuchi is rooted in the brand.

ーー On March 1, 2014, the company name became IKEUCHI ORGANIC, and the Tokyo Store opened on March 18. Mr. Nagaoka, please tell us what you kept in mind when you supervised the store design of the Tokyo Store.

Mr. Nagaoka:.
There were several things, but one guiding principle was “Organic Accuracy (precision organic).

After interviewing Mr. Ikeuchi, we learned that Ikeuchi’s approach to manufacturing is tied to the precision manufacturing approach of Apple Computer and Technics, Mr. Ikeuchi’s former company.

When we thought about precision, we focused on materials and textures that would maintain a sense of cleanliness.

You put name plates for each product on the fixtures, but you didn’t dare to fix them there, did you?

IKEUCHI ORGANIC, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture] Design is not “done and done. Let’s always grow together｜D&DEPARTMENT NAGAOKA KENMEI

Mr. Nagaoka:.
That’s right. Normally, I would have taped them in place, but I dared not.

So, when customers touch it, it gets displaced. We have to keep fixing it. From the store staff’s point of view, it’s like, “That’s enough” (laughs).

(Laughs) But we decided to do this as one of the ways of expressing our branding. I am sure that people who like Ikeuchi will fix it and go home. That makes it feel like your own store. I think it’s good to have a store that has that kind of distance from the customers. I believe that the store belongs to the customer as well.

Mr. Nagaoka: Also, IKEUCHI ORGANIC stores usually have Beatles music playing in the store, but this was also a suggestion from you, wasn’t it?

Mr. Nagaoka: Yes.
Yes, it was. When I thought about the brand, I thought it would be better to have IKEUCHI ORGANIC take root in a unique person like Mr. I keuchi.

Mr. Ikeuchi loved the Beatles and hid the CDs and records he bought in the trunk of his car, saying his wife might throw them away if she found them (laughs).

Mr. Nagaoka:.
I suggested that we put the Technics sound system that Mr. Ikeuchi loved in the store, display the Beatles records that he cherished, and play Beatles music, so that customers could feel the person of Keiji Ikeuchi.

Even if Mr. Ikeuchi were to pass away someday, I wanted everyone to be able to remember him as the person he was.

We want to be a place where we can talk about our products and the thoughts behind them in our own words.

Q: Is there anything that you tell the staff working at the store that you want them to value?

Representative Ikeuchi：
Anyway, I tell them to convey the thoughts of the creators.

This is not just for store staff, but for the company as a whole. That is why I try to speak persistently at various places, and that is also why we frequently hold store events at each store.

Stores are the most important place where we can meet directly with customers. Knowledge about towels is important, of course, but I especially ask them to convey their thoughts and feelings.

Ms. Nagaoka:
What I often tell the staff at D&DEPARTMENT is that I want them to convey the products in their own words. And I tell them that they should not recommend products to customers if they have not used them themselves.

That is why D&DEPARTMENT currently has over 1,000 items on the shelves, all of which I and my staff have actually used ourselves. I place importance on telling customers how I feel about the products I have used.

I think this is the same at Ikeuchi. When asked, “What happens to the towels after they are used and washed repeatedly?” I think they explain this to customers while presenting them with towels that have actually been washed in a washing machine in the store.

Therefore, I hope that you will place importance on telling the story in your own words.

Q: Finally, do you have a message for everyone who came to the show?

Representative Ikeuchi:.
When we changed our company name and opened the Tokyo Store in 2014, I started thinking, “Can we sustain the store for five years?

Even the owner of this store said to me, “Are you serious about a five-year contract on Kotto Dori?” But I remember telling him that I was determined to keep going and would do my best (laughs).

(Laughs) The reason I have been able to continue in this way for the past five years is because of everyone’s support, for which I am truly grateful.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of our own brand, so many things will continue to happen in the future.

In my mind, I have completed the concept of the 20th anniversary model towel, and I am working hard on trial and error so that I can show it to everyone as soon as possible.

ーー Mr. Nagaoka, it would be great if you could give us your comments on your expectations for IKEUCHI ORGANIC.

Mr. Nagaoka: Yes.
As the name IKEUCHI ORGANIC implies, I hope that IKEUCHI ORGANIC will not be bound by the framework of being a textile manufacturer, but will have a gradual influence on people who are interested in organic products.

It is very unique that a towel factory has a food license. They are making towels in an environment that is similar to making food. I hope that such interesting things will seep out more and more, and that the circle will expand.

Let’s all continue to watch over the IKEUCHI ORGANIC brand.

Mr. Nagaoka, Representative Ikeuchi. Thank you very much!

＜Written by Keiji Ide