Satellite Voices

Tokyo

Ansarimothe

November 17

We speak with the Franco / Japanese brand as they launch their range of accessories in Tokyo

• Text by Sophie Jackson

Ansarimothe is a young Franco / Japanese brand that has just launched their first collection of wallets, scarves and bags in Tokyo at the Just Another Space. Started by Shiraz Ansari and Dimitri Mothe last year, the combination of striking graphics and luxury fabrics gives the products a fresh and unique feel. Satellite Voices took the chance to catch up with them and to ask them some questions about their direction.



Satellite Voices: When was the brand started and what are your backgrounds?
Shiraz Ansari: The brand was started a year ago when I came to Tokyo to visit Dimitri. Before that we had been talking about this project and weren’t sure what we were going to start with, that was back in 2008. Then I moved to San Francisco and Dimitri came back to Tokyo. We started with very simple prints, Dimitri drew some prints and then showed them to me and then I took it to Australia and it all went from there. We decided that we were going to do scarves and bags, but then we said let’s also do some wallets so we concentrated on that.

Dimitri Mothe: There are two prints, we wanted to make something very simple and timeless, like polka dots. We wanted the print to be something like that so we started with lines and I just did it on paper, so it was very personal. The spacing between the lines was very important, we wanted to make something timeless but also very modern. 

Shiraz Ansari: The idea was also to make the products using silk and leather, but with the silk it had to be functional because silk is very delicate.

Dimitri Mothe: We went to Studio Bercot in Paris and after that Shiraz went to Hermes and I was working in the Marc by Marc Jacobs store which had just opened. Then I went to Natalia Brilli and after that I came back to Japan to work for the brand La Musician because they are friends.

Shiraz Ansari: In school in Paris it was difficult because it isn’t my mother tongue. In the second year we started talking and we did one project together. By the end of that year we drifted apart because everyone was very busy and trying to get internships. Back in Paris we started hanging out again and thought we should finally try and do something by ourselves.

SV: Ideally at the moment where do you see the brand going?
Dimitri Mothe: We want to make clothes and to make a collection. Afterwards we will see what happens. We have a balance and eventually we want to make both menswear and womenswear. We want to create an entire silhouette. Next, we are thinking of working on some leather jackets.

SV: Who do you design for? Do you have a particular person or group of people in mind?
Dimitri Mothe: We just make stuff that we want. Whenever we do something we have to really love it and there are people outside that we want to share it, but we don’t have celebrities or a particular muse in mind. We also wanted to make ladies clothes but we are not thinking about a specific person more about an object and a construction. We are always thinking about functionality, will people like it when it is done.

SV: You just launched in Tokyo. Why Japan?
Shiraz Ansari: Dimitri is half Japanese and has contacts here and culturally they are really more into creativity. In France, it is quite hard, we necessarily have a very small audience, whereas Japanese people are more generally open to fashion. They are open to accept young talent and new ideas. We have a very French aesthetic because we both worked there and learnt there, and the eye we have developed is very much Parisian but we accommodate that with things that work with other cultures - like the Tokyo scene which is slightly more daring and courageous and ready to try new things.

Just Another Agency represents Ansarimothe in Japan, for all enquiries please contact Hidemi Hamano: hidemi@justanotheragency.com