Jikan and Kiyoshi, two innovative stylists based in LA, sat down with me a few days after their second runway show. When I arrived for our interview, Jikan showed up in an outfit you wouldn't find on any rack in any mall, and forewarned me about his five other roommates. When we made it to his room, Kiyoshi, also in one-of-one fashion pieces, greeted me with the coolest, futuristic shades on. You could feel their unique energy instantly. Jikan mentioned their apartment was also their studio “where everything happened,” which I gathered immediately after noticing the iridescent pink paint and huge printing screens. Jikan, an east village manhattan native came to LA at the age of five. At the time, his dad was an aspiring actor. Kiyoshi, on the other hand, had spent his entire life in LA.
When asked about their influence for interests in fashion, Kiyoshi immediately motioned to his right and said “him, meeting him,” in reference to Jikan, who explains that he got into fashion around the age of 14 or 15. “At first I was just a very experienced consumer. At a certain point I began to ask myself why I was spending a hundred bucks on a t-shirt when I could make something better.” Kiyoshi then added “that's kind of what he opened my eyes to. I was always a consumer, always had to be dripped out. After meeting him he told me ‘you can make the drip you want, you don't have to go out and buy it’.”
Jikan and Kiyoshi had known each other since middle school, and were reconnected in January of 2022 through Sydney Douglas, a mutual friend who always thought they should meet. Eight months later the stylists, along with Elevate owner Aiden “Clover” Cullen, had designed over forty different looks for their fashion shows together. “Aiden and I met through Sydney as well at a kickback. I styled him for a halloween party, and afterward he hit me up to style him for the first party he was throwing. Ever since, we’ve been locked in. Aiden was putting in a hundred, (Kiyoshi) was putting in a hundred, and I was putting in a hundred, like a hundred percent effort. When you have three people putting in a hundred percent, that’s 300 hundred, and it's like everybody's effort combining into one great thing.”
Jikan and Kiyoshi never fail to put emphasis on the importance of the bond between the three. “Before this runway, there were a lot of structural changes, '' Jikan states. Kiyoshi adds “backstabbing, people getting too greedy...” Jikan continues, “money ruins a lot of relationships, sadly, because things could’ve worked out.” He motions to Kiyoshi and says, “I think we’re going to last a while because we work solely off of creativity.”
Jikan and Kiyoshi are gearing up for their third fashion show on November 11th. Their first one, which they thought of on a sunday and executed the following friday, was only four months before the second. “It’s a different time frame, but even more planning is going into this one than the last one'' says Jikan. When creating designs together the team emphasizes the importance of patience. Kiyoshi explains that “for probably two weeks I was creating stuff but nothing was really clicking with any of us. I knew we just needed to be patient and everything would line up,” and one late night in a room when they were all together, everything fell into place. Most of their designs feature the angel number 222. “Our prints are literally pictures of places by our venue with the numbers 222 on it” Jikan states while scrolling through the designs. When asked what 222 means to them he immediately responded, “alignment, you're in the right place at the right time.” Kiyoshi adds, “before Ian (Jikan), I would never see the numbers 222, I was a skeptic, I was never spiritual. I don't know, after seeing these numbers it kind of feels like a presence is around you, like those numbers are a presence saying ‘yeah you're going the right way now’.” Jikan and Kiyoshi both believe that the numbers are a guide for them. Kiyoshi continues, “when I was doing my lil’ trapping, drugs, whatever, I never used to see those numbers. I would get robbed, have guns pulled on me, things that were showing me not to do that. Now, anytime I see 222 I know I'm going the right way.” Jikan and Aiden even share a 222 tattoo on their inner arm. “We both got it three parties in, and as soon as we got it we started seeing it everywhere, and it wasn't like where you're forcing it. We went to eat, and as we were talking about something really important I looked up and saw 222 on a billboard.”
Both Jikan and Kiyoshi ran with the wrong crowd for a while. “Neither of us have the best history,” said Jikan, “It all catches up to you in the end, be it the law, people you owe, whatever. Why live your life with such a burden? If we continued on the path we were on before we discovered clothing and creativity, sh*t would not have turned out well. We were running with bad people, and they don't serve you in the long run.” Even though they fought many battles to get here, Kiyoshi knows that it made them stronger. “I feel like we definitely had to go through those experiences around the time covid started happening. I started to fall. I started getting a lot of money from doing bad stuff. Nobody else was hustling like that. My hustle was there just not with the right intention. Now my hustle is there, but I'm putting it into the right thing. All of it built my business strategy. It teaches you a different way of business and how to get through life, so I feel like we definitely needed that.”
When asked to give advice on how to get where they are, Jikan and Kiyoshi put emphasis on the importance of those around you. “Going through this experience, kind of distancing myself from people has definitely taught me that the ones who stayed around will still cheer me on after years of dipping on them. Some are envious, jealous and some tell me to keep pushing, so it's been easy to filter out who is who” Kiyoshi states. Jikan continues, “we all have those friends where it’s like, are you real? You don't have any passions so what do you do? How can you live your life so meaningless? I believe everyone has a true divine purpose, and you can tell who has a genuine passion to do something greater. Trying to curate something great starts with finding like-minded creatives you resonate with, not just on a business level, but a spiritual level too. I've experienced people in the past that make work feel like work. Aiden and Kiyoshi, they don't. It's like a creative motion.”
When asked about the future Jikan states “somebody asked why fashion tours don’t exist. If we were to get poppin enough, or when we do, in different states and different places we could just take these shows, set up dates and run this sh*t like a tour.” Jikan, Kiyoshi, and Aiden would also like to give back as much as possible. “I think our goals have definitely diverted to a humanitarian approach,” says Jikan, “at the end of the day we really just want to help and inspire people, rather than just doing it for money, clout, or fame. We all just have a real passion for art, and it’s so real that it’s driven us to do these crazy a** things. I want to help people learn how to make clothes, (Kiyoshi) wants to help single mothers in need, Aiden wants to help people learn how to DJ. A lot of people get their goals f*cked up. If you're not doing things for the greater good, what are you doing it for, yourself ?....”