On-site filming

N: For the Natty Shorts, I thought the video of the sewing factory in Kumamoto was great, so I was planning to film the production process in Hokkaido, where the Onion Hoodie is made. But when I got there, I found out that the factory wasn't ready for production yet, so I was pretty disappointed.

H: The image video was great. Who was the model?

N: Mako-chan, the manager of Stride Lab Niseko, and his friend Sakka-chan. I was really happy that they cooperated with me. I was able to take some great photos.


N: I was flying a drone too, but I panicked when I realized it had no battery. I almost said, "Wait a minute, Director!" But I had to calm myself down (laughs). But with the limited battery life, I managed to get some good shots. I plan to continue having Director Rakabee, aka Otaguro Dai, take my photos wherever I go from now on. He's definitely contributed to creating the image for Milestone. I'm not much of a mountain climber, though (laughs).


Y: The video has been at the top of the site for a long time, which is great. ( You can watch it here .)

N: It starts from discovering the fabric, then adding gimmicks to create the shape, deciding on a name, and filming the production process. There's a drama in every process.

Y: Due to popular demand, they are almost sold out, but the black and green colors that were out of stock earlier will be back in stock by the end of April when this article is posted. (Currently on sale)


Y: And, although it's still a little while away, we're currently preparing to release new colors. Just to let you know the color scheme, they're blue and yellow. We'd like to release them around this fall.

H: It's a blue color that we haven't had before (laughs).

N: That's right. We're adding two new colors, so we actually thought about discontinuing the white color. As I mentioned in the last episode about Natty Shorts, it might go against the accepted standards of apparel, but we're bringing it back.

Y: She's such a cute "child" (laughs). Even at the Trail Open Air Demo, where we set up a booth in early April, it was immediately obvious that she was wearing Polar White and British Green, even from a distance.

・Where to make it

N: So, I wasn't sure whether to include this here or not, but the onions are produced in Hokkaido and are said to be made in Japan, but due to production costs, we are thinking of moving production overseas from this fall.


Y: Even though I say "I've decided," I still find myself saying about once a week, "Maybe I should have stuck to Japanese-made after all." We were talking about that again yesterday.

N: As we continue to make various products in the future, it will be difficult to make everything in Japan. We want to make good products and offer them at a good price, without compromising on quality. Because we want as many people as possible to wear them.

Y: I would like to think from the user's perspective when deciding whether a wind shell is expensive or cheap.

N: So the production location will change, but the price will remain the same.


N: Come to think of it, when I first started researching, I saw a lot of people wearing a certain company's wind shell, and it looked good, so I thought I'd buy one and try it out, but it was sold out everywhere. I had no choice but to buy one on Mercari. But it smelled really bad.

Y: What do you mean? (laughs)

N: It didn't seem like body odor or anything like that, it was a smell I'd never smelled before. I tried soaking it and washing it with various detergents but it just wouldn't go away. I ended up taking it to the dry cleaners, and they were pretty good quality. But it still wouldn't go away.

Y: Eh (surprised) You can't tell the smell on Mercari.

N: But I still tried wearing it and running (laughs).

H: I have Onion so I don't need to wear it anymore (laughs).

Unfortunately, the smell of the wind shell didn't go away, but the story has come to a close, so that's all for now. The Onion hoody is packed with clever gimmicks, and the world of milestone is condensed into an onion-sized piece.

Spring is the season for harvesting onions. Farm work is also an outdoor activity, and the double zipper makes it perfect for working in the fields.

So, please look forward to the next time.

Text and composition : Hagiwara Ken