read: take ivy by T Hayashida, Hajime (Paul) Hasegawa, Toshiyuki Kurosu, Shosuke Ishizu

Scans from A Continuous Lean from the Japanese edition

I ordered "Take Ivy" as a birthday present for a friend some time back in March or April, and it was finally published in August! When it was delivered about two weeks ago, I tore into my copy (I ordered one for myself too).

The pictures speak for themselves; no need for me to wax lyrical about their timelessness, the preppy charm of one aspect of American culture. I don't think you'd find a college campus with boys that dress like this like it's the norm these days, except in the pages of GQ.

The captions, published in English for the first time, are revealing. I think some of it may have been lost in translation but otherwise, it was interesting how earnestly scientific their quest was. It's homage done in a way only the Japanese can: faithful and precise to the original but somehow distinct and new in their hands.

The Trad did an excellent interview with three of the authors. It's short but a fantastic context to look at the book in. I thought the comment by Paul Hagesawa about how the prep style was appealing because it represented a break from the British Carnaby Street and Beatles stuff going on at the time in fashion. The search for a relief from fashion trends, it seems, is timeless. Read it here.

And you can tell from the authors' photos that they have beautiful style.

Pictures from a continuous lean