1st September 2016

Q&A: Max Lewis, Kinoko founder

-by Milly Burroughs

Recent years have seen the fashion consumer become increasingly conscious of the stories behind their purchases. From the extensive exposure of unethical “fast fashion” to a significant growth in lifestyle blogging and social media sharing, we are now looking for more than just a shirt or pair of shoes - we’re looking for products and brands with a commitment to context and quality, and we’re looking to cultures built on utilitarian values for it.

Max Lewis is the founder of independent clothing store Kinoko. Back in 2005 he moved from the UK to Japan where he started selling Japanese brands from his Tokyo apartment. Inspired by the integrity of the garments he was peddling, Max returned to London to launch Kinoko and offer the British fashion crowd a glimpse into the craft and practicality he has fallen in love with.

Having just celebrated to the launch of his new boutique in Shoreditch, we asked Max a few questions about Kinoko and his love affair with Japan.

What’s the story behind Kinoko? Where and how did it get started?

The Kingsland Road shop is like a distant relative of my previous shop, Kinoko Cycles. Kinoko Cycles specialised in exotic custom bicycles and hard to find brands, mostly from Japan. This shop closed a few years back. At that point I decided to focus more on the clothing. We have continued the core principals we followed at Kinoko Cycles - to find unique, quality and functional product.

You lived in Japan for a while, what are the biggest lessons you learnt there and how have they influenced your business in the UK?

Quality is very important in Japan. You may have heard of the Japanese term “Kaizen”, which means the philosophy of continuous improvement. It’s not something, from my experience, all Japanese people are consciously aware of but its something everyone notices who visits. Especially in shops. Japanese buyers procure such great stuff. For Japanese buyers I get the feeling, as a customer, that their main goal is to offer quality and interesting product above anything else. This is certainly something which has rubbed off on me.

What is your favourite thing about Tokyo?

Other than the massive selection of shops to visit, the food and drink. And the fact thats it is a true 24 hour city. Which can be a bit dangerous on your pocket and your head.

What is your favourite thing about London?

It’s a international city.

What role do you like to think Japanese lifestyle concepts play in London culture?

Japanese influence seems to have become increasingly visible in more niche stores, especially homeware, stationery and fashion. Menswear shops are stocking a massive amount of Japanese brands recently, and trends which grew in Japan such as selvedge denim and indigo textiles seem pretty big now also.

You just launched a store in Shoreditch, what do you hope to achieve in the coming months?

Just to get more interested people through the doors. Thats definitely the short term goal! As well as continuing to deliver nice product and good content online.

Tell us about your branding, is there a story behind it?

Eve Izaak drew up a lovely new typeface for the shop which was hand painted by Manuel at Pincel signs. Our brand name means mushroom in Japanese. There's a small story behind that, which is not so interesting, but it sounds nice.

Tell us about what you’re doing for for LDF as part of the Shoreditch Design Triangle?

We're working on a few own brand pieces. You could call it technical workwear. This is something we've wanted to do for a long time. We plan to sell directly only initially, allowing us to keep costs down and work with local manufacturers and use high quality fabrics.

Check out kinokostore.com or follow Kinoko on Twitter and Instagram for more updates and information!

Kinoko, 73 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8AG.

Below: Kinoko store photography by Inge Clemente.