You can tell a lot about a person’s character by looking at their bookshelves. The same goes for the creators’ ateliers, which are filled with things that represent their style, values, and even some unexpected tastes. I often have the opportunity to visit designers’ ateliers for interviews, and it’s true that everyone is so different and their strong individuality shines through, and I’m often more inspired than visiting a mediocre art museum. The home-cum-atelier of Hideaki Shikama, designer of Children of the Discordance (COTD), which we visited for this interview, also has a somewhat mysterious atmosphere, offering us a glimpse of his roots and the origins of his creations.

Speaking of COTD, the brand is known for its creations made using vintage fabrics such as bandanas, and which are based on the youth culture of the 90s. Before I visited, I had imagined the room to be filled with vintage fabrics and a vibrant painting or two, but when I visited, I realized that it was a truly personal space that served as a condensed retelling of Mr. Shikama’s past experiences and worldview.

In the center of the living room, there is a large wardrobe is filled with stacks of vintage bandanas, dead stock AKIRA items, and second-hand artist T-shirts. Most of them are kept as part of a collection. However, all of them are still valuable. Turning your attention to the walls, you’ll see a Good Enough poster by graphic artist Frank Kozik, paintings by painter Takashi Kondo and various graffiti pieces with an anarchic feel to them. These are things that Shikama collects mostly as a hobby. He has had a habit of collecting stamps, coins, banknotes, jewelry and other knick-knacks from around the world since he was a child, and once he got hooked, he researched them thoroughly, and the more he dug, the more items he collected. I’ve heard that the psychology of collecting such things is connected to an ancient hunting instinct. Perhaps he was a hunter in a previous life.

Come to think of it, in the private room where I was given special permission to take a photo, there were a number of premium skateboard decks lined up like trophies won as spoils of war.

At the end of the interview, I asked him to show an item he was particularly fond of and he showed me a vintage biker jacket from Raf Simons’ 2003 collection, which was made in collaboration with British graphic designer Peter Saville, and features a hand-drawn version of the Joy Division jacket design “Unknown Pleasures”, which he worked on. In order to obtain this, Mr. Shikama, who was 23 years old at the time, desperately worked part-time jobs and even sold the records he had collected to raise money. The passion he poured into what he loved was truly amazing.

The items kept in this atelier are actually just a few, and for security reasons, most of them are kept in a secure warehouse. I wonder how many and how valuable they will be once all the collectibles are collected. During this interview, I was able to discover yet another appeal of COTD, and was able to discover that these are creations that can only be created because of such an outstanding mindset.