Recycle snow goggles and motorcycle goggles that are no longer in use and turn them into household goods! Even your goggles could become a fashionable item that you can use every day. Let's introduce the environmental efforts of JOCKRIC, an apparel brand with a design studio in Tokushima Prefecture.
JOCKRIC's manufacturing
JOCKRIC, based in Aizumi-cho, Ai no Sato, Awa-Tokushima, produces highly original workwear. JOCKRIC's design sensibility is surprising, as it transforms an old-fashioned rustic kappo kimono into a completely stylish work uniform.
Based on the concept of ``work clothes,'' JOCKRIC believes that if there are 100 jobs, there are 100 different forms of work clothes, and proposes work styles that blend into modern life. We put our heart and soul into creating workwear, one by one, that will make you feel excited about your job, which is something you spend a lot of time in your life.
JOCKRIC's commitment to manufacturing is also connected to its "environmental initiatives." Having set up a workshop and showroom in Kamikatsu Town, a town rich in nature, since 2016, we support Kamikatsu Town's "Zero Waste Declaration," which aims to create a town where no waste is thrown away, and hope that this will lead to local environmental initiatives. We are working on creating things based on our ideas.
STEEP previously introduced JOCKRIC's unique recycled items. This Coffee Savor is a work based on the concept of Kamikatsu Town.
STUDIO PREPA coffee server x JOCKRIC RECLAIM sleeve〈DRAGON〉A
This piece is a recycled DRAGON goggle band that has a lot of presence and is very stylish. Coffee time is about to become richer and more luxurious than ever.
￥16,500
Background to the creation of this coffee server
We spoke with Katsushi Kurokawa, the owner and designer of JOCKRIC.
-Why did you start this initiative?
We heard from Studio Prepa, a glass artist who makes coffee servers.
Kamikatsu-cho, where I have another atelier, is a small town with a current population of about 1,400 people, but it is the first town in Japan to start zero-waste activities.
For more than 20 years, the town has been disposing of garbage by separating it into 45 types, and has been carrying out an initiative in which residents bring their garbage to one garbage station within the town, and what can be recycled is recycled and reused. I continue to do so. I also have an atelier here for the past 7 years and have been making products, and during that time, the glass artist ``Studio Prepa'' asked me to make a coffee server, so I decided to use the sleeve part as part of a recycling initiative in Kamikatsu Town. I was asked if there was anything we could do as part of this project. Studio Prepa also makes glasses by melting down beer bottles in Kamikatsu-cho.
I've been competing in motocross since I was little, and the plastic and sponge parts of goggles tend to deteriorate as you use them. But there were models from that year and designs that I liked, and each one had a lot of memories, so I kept them instead of throwing them away. So I thought it would be possible to reuse the band part for something.
This time, it was the perfect size for a sleeve, so I decided to make it into a sleeve. I also had a friend who competes in mountain biking and snowboarding, so I asked him to help me collect goggles that I no longer use and made them into sleeves.
-Did you choose the best from the many bands in your work?
I agree. I can't use items that are too dirty or have deteriorated rubber, but I chose items that were in good condition and created works that had a nice design.
-It has a very stylish sleeve. What is the process like?
Remove the frame and lenses from the goggles, and in order to make the most of the band, unravel the thread, or rather, the resin fibers, so that it can be used for as long as possible. The band is rubber-like and stretches, so I sewed it into a slightly smaller tube. The goggle straps have anti-slip features. This ended up preventing it from slipping onto the glass, which was a good thing.
-I see. How much have you produced so far?
I just started this summer. I've made about 30 bottles so far, but it's only been a few months since I started selling them as a product. You can only get about two goggles from one goggle, and you have to start by collecting the goggles, so it's difficult to make them in large quantities. Each item is a one-of-a-kind item, so thankfully we've been receiving orders so quickly that we can't keep up with production.
- Adding the JOCKRIC tag instantly makes it look cool.
Motocross, mountain bike, and snow goggles can be used as goggles, and it seems that people who like those sports are happy to use them.
-What were your thoughts when you created it?
The work involves taking the goggles apart, so it takes more time than regular apparel, but it's fun to make. It's nice to not only be able to reuse things we no longer need, but also to be able to use or keep items that have memories and fond memories of them in their new form.
The beginning and the future
-Please tell us about the roots of JOCKRIC.
JOCKRIC was started based on "Tsukasa Sewing", which was run by my parents from 1980 to 2005, based in Aizumi Town, Ai no Sato, Awa Tokushima. Currently, I have three family members and someone outside helping me.
Ever since I was in elementary school, my older brother and two other siblings have been helping our parents after coming home from school. My parents had once gone out of business, and I had been working in a different field, related to bicycles, but I had always been interested in apparel, so I quit my job and started building my own business since there were factories and machines left. I started JOCKRIC about 10 years ago with the idea of making and selling products.
-How did you come up with your unique design?
Basically, I do everything myself. I guess I learned how to sew clothes from my parents, or maybe it came naturally to me because I had been making things for myself since I was little. My older brother is 8 years older than me, and it was really cool to see him riding a motorcycle. I still remember that there was a time when I wanted a coverall suit like my brother's, but since I was a small elementary school student, they didn't have my size... I really wanted one, so my parents taught me how to make one myself.
-What are your thoughts and feelings toward manufacturing?
During production, we inevitably end up with extra fabric, so we try to create products that can use as much of that material as possible. However, such work is very time-consuming. It would be easier if we mass-produced because there would be a flow, but I think it would be nice if we could make things one by one using scraps instead of doing that.
Although in the same prefecture as Tokushima, the workshop in Kamikatsu Town is called "JOCKRIC RECLAIM", and as a member of Kamikatsu Town, which has declared zero waste, we create products with the idea of connecting from ourselves to the local community. I contacted brand friends around me, such as the glass artist and bag brand, and asked them to collect scrap materials and make bags for me. I hope we can work together with everyone like that. Reclaim has the meaning of developing and reusing. I would like to discover the value there and give birth to and nurture new life.
I don't have any ideas for this right now, but I think it might be possible to do something using not only goggle bands, but also materials from snowwear.
I would be happy if we could create an environment where people can enjoy skiing and snowboarding for a long time by reusing things they no longer need, and if this could be of some use in climate change efforts, for example. It would be great if we could turn this coffee sleeve into a work of art if we asked STEEP readers to collect goggles and give back by donating a portion of the proceeds to some kind of environmental initiative.
So that's it!
With "STEEP x JOCKRIC", readers' goggles can be used as a coffee server!
At the suggestion of Mr. Kurokawa of JOCKRIC RECLAIM, as part of STEEP's "THINK SNOW" initiative, we decided to use "STEEP x JOCKRIC" to turn readers' goggles into coffee servers.
If you have goggles that you no longer use or can no longer use, please send them to the STEEP editorial department. I would be happy if I could take on the challenge of selling it as a JOCKRIC RECLAIM sleeve and donating 10% of the sales to POW, which is working on climate change, which STEEP also supports.
If you would like to help make the "STEEP x JOCKRIC" coffee sleeve, please click here and
send us your no longer needed goggles.
Please contact the editorial department of Cast Co., Ltd. "STEEP" 5F
Shin-
Arai Building, 1-44-4 Sekiguchi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3266-5033
*Goggles sent to us cannot be returned.
*Items that are too dirty or have severely deteriorated rubber may not be able to be commercialized.
