This series is a project in which Hagiwara (who runs with him in #WednesdayBudouzakaRen) listens to the stories of two people who have created milestone items (founder Nishioka) and used them (mid-career hire Yoshida) and delves into them.

Yoshida (hereinafter Yoshi): We've finally reached the 12th film.

Nishioka (hereinafter, Nishi): It was really fast.

Yoshi: Speaking of fast, it feels like we're already recording this month?

Hagiwara (hereinafter, Hagi): A month has passed so quickly.

Nishi: Before I knew it, it's already December. This year has gone by so quickly. I've planned so many things, and it's nice to see each one of them taking shape and people reading and watching. I'm glad I did "Tell Me! Milestone." It was a great project, I think.

Yoshi: The abbreviation "Oshi! Mai" didn't catch on very much (laughs).

Nishi: It was a good idea to decide to release on the 25th of every month. It became a routine.

Hagi: It's important to have a clear deadline.

Nishi: The exchanges are gradually becoming less frequent.

Hagi: I feel like I'm finally getting used to it.

Nishi: It makes me really sad to think that this is the end.

Hagi: Whaaaaaaat!?

Yoshi: Just kidding (laughs) I'll have material next year too!

Nishi: We want to create not only products but also many other things, and I'm sure there are many behind-the-scenes stories we can share here, so we hope you will continue to support "Tell Me! Milestone" next year.

・Turning encounters into reality

Hagi: Today's main topic is the Alpha material hoodie. What's the name?

Nishi: It's the Cloud Hoodie .

Yoshi: The name comes from the song "Cloud Nine" by Marvin Gaye . Clouds are numbered, and the ninth cloud is a cumulonimbus cloud. Cumulonimbus clouds are clouds that rise high, so it expresses that feeling of high. The fluffy and soft texture of the Polartec Alpha Direct fabric evokes the image of clouds and lightness, so we decided to use the name "Cloud."

Nishi: It all started last summer when I set up a booth by myself at an outdoor event in Shizuoka, as I usually do. That was before Yoshi joined the company. SCT Japan, Polartec's exclusive distributor in Japan, had a booth there, selling fabric by the meter. The representative came to our booth and said, "milestone does quite a bit of apparel, doesn't it?" But Polartec is a functional fleece material that's sold by major outdoor brands, and at the time it seemed intimidating to me, so I never thought we'd be able to handle it. But we exchanged business cards, and I sent Yoshi an email saying, "I had a really great encounter that day." Do you remember that?

Yoshi: I remember.

Nishi: I sent it to Yoshi before he joined the company, thinking that it might lead to something new.

Yoshi: I think I just replied, "Hot!" (laughs)

Nishi: Setting up a stall at an event isn't just about selling products; it's also a place to communicate with users, of course, but it's also an important place where manufacturers can connect with each other and all kinds of chemical reactions can occur. I met Nakagawa-san from "Mamen to Mori," who did a pop-up at milestone TERADACHO the other day, at the venue.

Yoshi: I guess I have to go to the event after all.

Nishi: I had the opportunity to go to Tokyo, so I made an appointment with SCT Japan and went to their company to meet them. They showed me a variety of fabric samples, and there were also products that each company had made up until that point. But at that point, I hadn't even decided what I wanted to make. It was a great opportunity to meet them, so I requested several types of fabric on the spot, hoping to take it to the next level.

Yoshi: When I joined the company last November, fabric samples arrived from the US headquarters. That was when I first learned that Alpha Direct fabric comes in three thicknesses: 60, 90, and 120.

Nishi: Alpha was originally a fabric used for padding and lining in jackets.

Yoshi: For example, one way to use it is to use nylon on the outer surface and then attach a lining, but instead, I wanted to literally use Alpha Direct directly, just the fabric.

Hagi: "Active insulation" translates to dynamic warmth in Japanese, but it means that it's activewear that's useful even in situations where you're doing a lot of exercise and generating a lot of heat and sweat.

Yoshi: I really felt the effects of it when I trekked the Shinetsu Trail in the fall two years ago in a snowstorm. It wicks away sweat when you're moving, and when you stop, it's warm and you don't have to take it off. The only time it's weak is when the wind blows, but I felt how amazing it was. When I was thinking that active insulation would be necessary for the milestone, I heard that it was connected to Polartec, and I thought, "Wow!"

Hagi: You need something in the winter, something between your T-shirt and wind shell.

Yoshi: With padded clothing, the outer shell fabric can cause you to overheat if you exercise a lot.

Hagi: Until now, what was called insulation was static insulation, the opposite of "dynamic," and it was made of down or thick fleece material to keep out the cold when you were standing still. You would take it off when you started moving and got hot, but now you can wear it all the time, and that's what's come along.

・Dignity as an object

Yoshi: I couldn't tell what would be best without actually using it, even with the different thicknesses of the fabric, so I asked them to make a suitable pattern for the garment. It was a simple pattern with a zipper in the front and a hood. And it was white (laughs).

Hagi: I've seen people running in them. It just looked like a regular hoodie (laughs).

Yoshi: I tested it by running in the mountains, but the 60 was see-through and cold.

Nishi: The air escapes so well (laughs).

Yoshi: Last winter in January and February, I ran without wearing it so that I could see the effect of the fabric more clearly.

Hagi: It took exactly one year.

Yoshi: Active insulation is already available from companies like OCTA and Primaloft, so we had a lot of discussions with Nishioka about how to best use it and create the perfect shape. That's why it took so long.

Yoshi: Personally, I think it was a collaboration between my attention to functionality and Nishioka's pursuit of quality as a product, including its appearance.

Yoshi: From the beginning, I thought that to maximize the functionality of this material, I would make it a double-zip front opening, rather than a pull-over. But I thought it would be fine to use all Alpha fabric. However, Nishioka's aesthetic sense meant that he didn't like that. Partly because the first sample was a baggy white (laughs), but he didn't think it looked good at all. He did say that he wanted to improve the quality of the product. It's true that he'd gotten an upset stomach when running naked in it in the middle of winter, so I compromised and said that it might be okay to use grid fleece to keep his stomach warm.

Nishi: To go even further, Yoshi said he didn't want pockets at all. The question of whether to add pockets always comes up, but other companies have already done it without any pockets. Even if we joined that market, there would be other manufacturers that prioritize lightness, so we decided not to do it. I remember saying that we should think about where to use the grid. With this fabric all over, I didn't find it appealing as an item, and it just didn't feel right.

Yoshi: That's the core of creating something. If we're going to release something as milestone, I think that milestone has to be all "Nishioka Shuhei." Even if Nishioka-san wonders, "What about this?", and I'm the only one who thinks it's great and it sells, I don't think that's milestone. I want to release something that Nishioka-san thinks is good, and I want to help him broaden his horizons by taking in various inputs, not just his current sensibilities, and release something that Nishioka-san has chosen to release to the world, so we had a lot of that kind of exchange here.

Yoshi: Nishioka-san said that we needed to keep it unique, so we added the details of the Onion Hoodie, and so we added the asymmetrical design of the thumbholes, watch window, and neck zipper. It's not exactly the same, but we took advantage of the quality of the material and changed the hood pattern so that it can be worn even in the middle of winter, assuming that the windproof Onion will be worn over it, and it's shaped more like a balaclava. The Onion has an exposed mouth, but most people wear the Cloud with their mouths covered.

Hagi: It can withstand colder environments.

Yoshi: The grid part is made of fleece, so it lets the wind through, but it does keep you warm.

Nishi: The shoulders where your arms and backpack come into contact are gridded to increase durability. It can be worn not only for trail running, but also for hiking, biking, and even under a hard shell on snowy mountains. I think it's an item with a wide range of uses.

Nishi: Finally, the final sample arrived in the same condition as the delivery. And it even had a Polartec tag attached!

Yoshi: I've always been the type that doesn't need that kind of thing (laughs).

Hagi: You said the same thing at the 10th Fast Trail Glove event.

Yoshi: We don't want to say, "It's fine because it's Polartec, so please buy it," and that's not the intention behind making it. We want it to be, "It's fine because it's a milestone."

Nishi: It's a good fabric, so I'm allowed to use it, but there's no need to bother attaching a tag. Then, the final sample for confirmation before mass production has a tag attached as a matter of course, so I thought, "Ahhh!" But then I thought it would look really tight and good, so I ended up attaching it. (laughs)

Continued in Part 2