Yuichiro Mori, President and CEO of FABRIC TOKYO Co., Ltd.

Becoming a company that designs user experiences

President and CEO of FABRIC TOKYO Co., Ltd.
Yuichiro Mori

Born in Okayama Prefecture in 1986. After graduating from university, he worked for a fashion event production company before participating in the founding of a real estate venture and the flea market app "Mercari." In February 2014, he launched his custom-made business wear brand "FABRIC TOKYO." The company provides services that combine IT and real-world aspects, and currently operates 19 directly managed stores in Tokyo, Kansai, Nagoya, and Fukuoka.

He became captivated by fashion after picking up a magazine as a child. After launching a fashion media outlet, working as an assistant for fashion event production, and working at an IT venture, he founded "FABRIC TOKYO," an e-commerce site that offers custom-made suits. We spoke to him about his passion and the culture he values.

My encounter with fashion began with a magazine

I'm from Okayama Prefecture, and I was just your average game-loving junior high school student, but one day my parents gave me a fashion magazine, saying it was about time I read it. When I opened it, I was so impressed that I became interested. That was the start of my fascination with fashion, and after I became a university student, I started a fashion media site on the web and created a community for fashion lovers.
　I love the Star Wars movies, and when you love them, you want to create them yourself. You want to be a creator, not a consumer. Initially, I wasn't aiming to start a business, but I just wanted to create something "like Star Wars." I was researching interesting jobs that would allow me to achieve this, and I found work as a fashion director. I thought, "This is it!" and went from Kagawa to a company in Tokyo, cold calling, asking if I could work there. After handing over my resume, I called every day to ask, "How's it going?" and they hired me part-time, and in the fall of my fourth year of university, I was offered a job as an assistant at the Kobe Collection. That's how my career in the fashion industry began.
　Initially, I thought the apparel industry was a job that showed the future. However, the reality was different. Coinciding with the rise of fast fashion, the industry was in the midst of a recession. Unable to bring in new ideas, the industry remained stagnant and uninteresting, and I began to dislike the fashion industry. Around that time, I reunited with some friends from high school who had started their own ventures. They seemed so dazzling, and I was shocked to discover that even people in their 20s could be so successful in IT ventures. Around that time, I had the opportunity to study directly under the president of a real estate venture, so I decided to take the plunge and study marketing and sales for about two years. After that, I decided I wanted to run my own business, so at the age of 26, I started my own company.

A company that designs user experiences

With the desire to become a company that allows people to freely design their lifestyles, I founded "Lifestyle Design" in 2012 (later changing the company name to FABRIC TOKYO to match the brand name). The importance of clothes varies from person to person. But when you can put together an outfit you like in the morning, you can go out in a good mood. I believe fashion gives you confidence and brightens your days. I often tell our store staff that "FABRIC TOKYO doesn't sell clothes." I believe we are a company that designs the "user experience" through all of these things: how the brand is talked about, the experience in the store, and the experience of wearing the finished clothes.
　Another feature of FABRIC TOKYO is its culture. The organizational culture and climate are unique, and each person in a position is not considered "important"; the CEO is also considered a "position." Everyone complements each other to form a team. It is like ellipses overlapping to form a perfect circle.

Sharing values ​​increases customer satisfaction

We have three values ​​that we hold dear. They are "Vision Driven," "Always Why, Always Run," and "All For One." First, we believe that an organization needs a high vision. It is the role of the top management to clearly demonstrate the feasibility of goals that cannot be achieved by individuals, and it is important that each individual works based on that vision. Second, we believe that when considering things, it is necessary to dig deep into the reasons. Third, in order to ensure the quality of our service, it is important for everyone to be aware that they are all building one business together. We place great importance on these values ​​when hiring, and we thoroughly align our "values" during evaluation interviews held once every three months.

＊message＊

I have two messages for students. The first is, "The sooner you act, the more time you have to learn." It's hard to learn about entrepreneurship and management in school. Looking back, the good thing about it is that I started a business at the young age of 26 and took action. That's how much knowledge I've accumulated and how I can improve. The second is that when you're young, it's important to "invest in yourself" rather than manage your assets. I think the best self-investment of all is to put all your effort into what you're doing now. Set goals, work towards them, see the results, and improve. I think you'll grow by repeating this cycle. Good luck!

From the April 20, 2020 issue of the Student Newspaper (Anna Yamamoto, 4th year student at Keio University)

•