Van Jacket
 VAN brand label, c. 1970, sewn into a balmacaan coat | |
Native name | 株式会社ヴァンヂャケット |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Apparel |
| Predecessor | Ishizu Shoten; original Van Jacket company (1954–1978) |
| Founded |
|
| Founder | Kensuke Ishizu |
| Headquarters | , Japan |
Area served | Japan |
| Products | Clothing and accessories |
| Brands | VAN |
| Website | www |
Van Jacket Inc. (株式会社ヴァンヂャケット, Kabushiki-gaisha Van Jaketto) is a Japanese apparel company that operates the VAN clothing brand. Founded by Kensuke Ishizu, the original company was influential in the development of postwar Japanese menswear and is particularly associated with introducing and adapting American Ivy style for young Japanese consumers.[1]
During the 1960s, VAN clothing became closely associated with the Miyuki-zoku youth subculture in Tokyo. The company also promoted Ishizu's concept of TPO—"time, place, occasion"—as a system for choosing appropriate clothing.[1] The original corporation went bankrupt in 1978, but former employees established a successor company in 1980 and retained the VAN trademarks.[1]
History
[edit]Origins and Ivy style
[edit]VAN's own materials date the brand's origins to 1948, while scholarly accounts trace the business to Ishizu Shoten, a menswear company established by Ishizu in Osaka in 1951.[2][1] The business initially produced British-style suits and other traditional men's clothing. It adopted the Van Jacket name in 1954 and expanded to Tokyo the following year.[1]
During a visit to the United States in 1959, Ishizu observed the clothing worn by students at Princeton University. He subsequently shifted the company's focus from older customers and made-to-measure suits toward ready-to-wear clothing for young men, drawing inspiration from the blazers, button-down shirts, chinos, loafers, and other garments associated with American university life.[3]
VAN introduced a complete Ivy-inspired clothing line in the early 1960s. Its products became popular among young people who gathered around Miyuki-dori in Ginza, known collectively as the Miyuki-zoku. VAN shopping bags also became fashion items and status symbols among members of the subculture.[4]
In 1965, a VAN team including photographer Teruyoshi Hayashida, Shōsuke Ishizu, Toshiyuki Kurosu, and Hajime Hasegawa visited the eight Ivy League universities in the northeastern United States. The resulting photographs and film documented student clothing and campus life and were published as Take Ivy.[5] The project served both as a fashion study and as a promotional campaign intended to give VAN's interpretation of Ivy style greater authenticity.[5]
Expansion and bankruptcy
[edit]VAN expanded rapidly during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The company built a headquarters complex in Aoyama, Tokyo, which it promoted as "VAN Town Aoyama", and used seasonal advertising campaigns based on American travel, leisure, and sports.[2]
Annual sales reached ¥45.2 billion in 1975, but profits declined as the company accumulated inventory and expanded beyond its ability to manage production and distribution effectively. The effects of the 1973 oil crisis, increased competition, market saturation, and disagreements with the trading companies providing financial support contributed to its decline.[1]
On 6 April 1978, Van Jacket applied for protection under Japan's Corporate Reorganization Law with debts of approximately ¥50 billion. The application was rejected later that year, and the original corporation entered bankruptcy proceedings. At the time, it was described as the largest postwar bankruptcy in the Japanese apparel industry.[1]
Successor company and legacy
[edit]Following the bankruptcy, former employees continued selling remaining merchandise with permission from the bankruptcy administrator. In 1980, an agreement between employees and major creditors allowed a newly established company to inherit the VAN trademarks and other intellectual property. The successor initially operated as Van Jacket New Co., Ltd. before adopting the Van Jacket name.[1]
The current company remains active and is headquartered in Kuramae, Taitō, Tokyo.[6] The former Aoyama headquarters was associated with the original company and is not its present location.
Take Ivy gained renewed international attention after images from the book appeared on an American fashion blog in 2008. An English-language edition was published in 2010 and sold approximately 50,000 copies worldwide, contributing to a revival of interest in Ivy and preppy clothing.[5] The book and VAN's wider influence have subsequently been discussed in connection with the preservation and reinterpretation of American traditional style in Japan.
Further reading
[edit]- W. David Marx. Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style. Basic Books, 2015. ISBN 978-0-465-05973-7
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kotani, Keiko (2021). "A Case Study of VAN Jacket and Kensuke Ishizu: Reconsidering the Value Created by VAN". Japan Marketing Journal (in Japanese). 40 (4): 84–93. doi:10.7222/marketing.2021.022. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- 1 2 "About Us". Van Jacket (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Xiao, Simon (29 May 2026). "Ivy Abroad". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton University. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ Marx, W. David (2015). "The Climb of Ivy". Lapham's Quarterly. Vol. 8, no. 4. ISSN 1935-7494. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Marx, W. David (1 December 2015). "Stalking the Wild Madras Wearers of the Ivy League". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 26 July 2026.
- ↑ 特定商取引法に基づく表示 [Information required under the Specified Commercial Transactions Act]. Van Jacket (in Japanese). Retrieved 26 July 2026.
External links
[edit]- Official website (in Japanese)