Van Jacket
Van Jacket Inc. (株式会社ヴァンヂャケット, Kabushiki-gaisha Van Jaketto) is a Japanese apparel company.
From the 1960s to the 1970s, it dominated the Japanese fashion scene, introducing American culture and American traditional style to Japan in the 1950s, creating such trends as the “Ivy look”[1] and the “Miyuki-zoku” in the 1960s, and establishing a culture of men's fashion and lifestyle with its T.P.O. (Time Place Occasion) terminology.
Overview
[edit]The company was founded by Kensuke Ishizu in Minami-ku, Osaka.[2] In the 1950s, the brand focused on men's clothing, mainly suits, but in the 1960s, it shifted to the American Ivy. Symbolic of this shift was a photo book titled “Take Ivy” published in 1965. A total of eight staff members went to Ivy League schools, a collective name for eight prestigious private universities on the U.S. East Coast, and photographed the real Ivy Leaguers, capturing them in film and book.[3] The company's New England-style fashion was called Ivy (アイビー, aibii).
The Ivy look became popular among the fashion-oriented young people who gathered on Miyuki-dori Avenue in Tokyo in the 1960s, collectively known as the "Miyuki-zoku" (みゆき族, Miyuki tribe). Among the Miyuki-zoku, even carrying a VAN brand paper bag was considered fashionable, and “VAN” continued to be at the forefront of the Japanese fashion scene after that.[4] Even into the 1970s, there seemed to be some enthusiasts for the brand, and it also formed a genre.
With its headquarters building in Aoyama and an American football team, the VANGUARDS, as an in-house club,[5] the company was at the forefront of its time and was very popular among young people.
After peaking at 45.2 billion yen in sales in the fiscal year ended February 1975, the company's performance deteriorated sharply. The company sought human resources and financial support from trading companies such as Marubeni Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation, as well as material manufacturers such as Toyobo and Kanebo. However, the combination of the recession caused by the oil shock, intensifying competition in the apparel industry, and failure to attract a new customer base led the company to file for protection under the Corporate Reorganization Law on April 6, 1978, effectively bringing it to bankruptcy.[2]
In December 3, 1980 , Van Jacket New Co., Ltd. is established, inheriting the trademarks and other intellectual property rights held by (old) Van Jacket Co., Ltd. In March 25, 1981, Van Jacket New Co., Ltd. is renamed to (New) Van Jacket Co., Ltd., and rebuilt thanks to the efforts of former employees. However, the founder is no longer primarily involved in management.[2] The company bankrupted again in 1984; in 2000 it was bought by Itochu Trading company.[2]
In 2008, VAN's 1965 photo book “Take Ivy” was posted on an American fashion blog and went viral, leading to the publication of the English edition by a Brooklyn-based publisher in 2010, which sold 50,000 copies worldwide.[3] It was displayed in stores such as Ralph Lauren and J.Crew, and became widely commented in magazines and other media as a neo-Ivy style.[3]
Further reading
[edit]- W. David Marx. Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style. Basic Books, 2015. ISBN 978-0465059737
References
[edit]- ^ "The History of "VAN" and a Reflection on "Ivy League Look" & "Miyuki-zoku" | fashion tech news". fashiontechnews.zozo.com. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ^ a b c d Christian (2017-12-09). "The Man Who Brought Ivy To Japan". Ivy Style. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ^ a b c Marx, W. David (2015-12-01). "Stalking the Wild Madras Wearers of the Ivy League". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ^ Marx, W. David (2015). "The Climb of Ivy". Lapham’s Quarterly. Vol. 8, no. 4. ISSN 1935-7494. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
- ^ "VAN SITE VANスポーツイベント1 TOKYO VANGUARDS". vansite.net. Retrieved 2025-06-22.