My journey in design started with bags but for some reason, I decided that my first garment project would be a quilted leather bomber jacket. I was such an idiot. The jacket turned out okay, but I should have waited to spend all that money until after my sewing progressed a bit. It wasn’t the worst thing I had made but it was always in the back of my mind to seek redemption. I got really fired up one night in Whistler and gave the jacket to a friend after the party was over. Oh well, しょうがない.

I came close the second time, but unfortunately the very expensive Riri zippers I bought didn’t close as smoothly as I had hoped. Another big night of drinking had me passing this one off too. I swear I’m not an alcoholic.

I decided to be patient before trying again, finding perfect hardware (and making sure it worked first) and finalizing other details I wanted to incorporate into the style. Mom brought back a bunch of my grandparents’ kimonos from Japan and I found a cool blue silk that my grandpa used to wear. I took one look at it and knew it was time.

No amount of drugs or alcohol will part me from this jacket…