From fashion to nature

Inagaki, the representative designer of Palaina LO from Hokkaido, who has loved clothes since childhood, entered a junior college specializing in fashion in order to fulfill his dream of making people happy in the world of apparel.

After being thoroughly taught the basics at a junior college, I studied styling at a vocational school, and finally got a job at a Tokyo apparel brand, which was my dream. I started a life full of fashion at a workplace in Tokyo, which was at the cutting edge of the times.

However, for Inagaki, who was born and raised in Hokkaido, which is rich in nature, living a consuming life in Tokyo was too different. My heart became more and more exhausted, and one day I suddenly felt that I had no desire for material things. It was a symptom that appeared due to an imbalance between the mind and body.

Around that time, my plan to travel to Okinawa was canceled due to a friend's work commitments.

“Then why not stay for a long time by yourself!”

I called the accommodations in the guidebook starting with the letter ``A'' in the index, found a guesthouse that said ``We're looking for part-time workers,'' and started living there.

During my stay, I was exposed to strong sunlight that was different from the nature of Hokkaido, and the color of the tropical sea that changed every time I saw it. I received a lot of inspiration from the colorful flowers. The natural scenery that I saw to my heart's content as I moved from Okinawa to Ogasawara and back to Okinawa is deeply etched in my heart.

The “richness” of inheriting and using

While enjoying nature and freedom, she met someone and gave birth. I was blessed with three children.

Through my experience of receiving hand-me-downs from my children from friends, I realized that there is more to life than just consumption. Inherit and use things that were used with care. I felt that this way of thinking would greatly enrich my life .

As she returned to Hokkaido as a single mother and struggled to raise her children, she ended up receiving a large amount of kimonos from an acquaintance.

The patterns and patterns on the kimono are beautiful!

At that time, because I had experience as a designer, I was able to use that fabric and remake it into a bag.

At that time, I didn't know the word upcycling, but it involves turning old things into something new and more valuable. That's how I felt.

Things that we cherish or things that have lost their value and are thrown away

Give new life...

It was at this time that I started making things like this.

Turn upcycling into a “brand”

When my children grow up and I can no longer help them, I want to work on making things with my own hands.

Inagaki had thought this way for a long time, and finally met Kimura, who was also from Hokkaido and would later become the representative of Palaina LO. After graduating from a fashion school, Kimura worked as a suit maker, gaining know-how in apparel production and sales.

For Inagaki, who specializes in design, this encounter was an unexpected one.

When the two of them decided to start a brand together, they thought, "What kind of brand should we aim for?" What can we both do as brands?

At that time, my thoughts from my time in apparel and the things I realized while raising my children came back to me.

I think it might be possible to create a brand that combines the eternal fashion theme of ``creating fashionable and cool things'' with ``enriching people's lives.''

What came to mind were Hokkaido when I was a child, and the seas of Okinawa and Ogasawara where I lived for long periods of time.

Even the same ocean has many different expressions, and it's even more so if it's a different ocean.

When considering materials that can express a wide variety of colors and depth,

I ended up using denim, especially old denim.

If you make good use of the taste of second-hand denim that new clothes don't have, you can reborn old denim into something new and more valuable, and create products that not only can be consumed but also have a new life!

This is how our brand concept, "Upcycling Fashion Brand" was born.

The brand name ``Palaina'' is a symbol of good fortune in ancient Greek, meaning ``something divided into two,'' such as the wings of a butterfly or the tail of a whale spreading out, and ``LO'' stands for Last Order. We named this name with the hope that it will become a brand that people will want to buy again at the end of the day .