RICCI EVERYDAY celebrates its 5th anniversary

RICCI EVERYDAY celebrates its 5th anniversary

Hello everyone. I'm Chizu Nakamoto, the representative of RICCI EVERYDAY.

We have successfully celebrated our 5th anniversary with the launch of RICCI EVERYDAY, a brand that handles bags and miscellaneous goods using colorful and playful African prints. This is also thanks to the customers who patronize us on a daily basis and the staff in Uganda, Japan, who accompany us toward the growth of the brand every day. thank you very much.

I have experienced various things in the last 5 years. In the first place, I and three Ugandan women started everything by putting a sewing machine in a small room 3 meters square, but from there I learned the fun of manufacturing and made me deal with department stores nationwide. I got them, went to Ghana to buy cloth, and had a directly managed store in Tokyo. I couldn't look back on these five years and could always keep running. And I think that the experience and learning gained in various situations have made the current RICCI EVERYDAY even more colorful.

At the same time, by the time we reached the milestone of the fifth year, we wanted to reorganize "what value our brand brings to our customers and to the local women." ..

It was triggered by the words that customers casually called me.

"When you use this bag, you can be praised by many people (even those you don't know)."

"If you have a bag, you will be energized."

I'm sorry for the miso in the foreground, but it wasn't just two customers who said the above words. I'm still receiving calls from so many people. It seems that our products are more than just fashion items and have some positive impact on our customers. Why do our products lead to our customers' energy? In order to get the answer, not only after the brand was launched, but also before that, I went back to my original experiences and values, and started a long journey around them (sit down and think about it). It's been 10 months since I became a brand, but it's been 2 years including the moyamoya period. This is the only story that made the trip longer than I expected).

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Even now, the most memorable thing was when I first visited the local market in Uganda. A colorful African print that suddenly jumped into my eyes as I was walking around the local market with my friends. I was obsessed with the charm of the cloths lined up from the floor to the ceiling, and while talking with my friends that "that pattern is cute" and "that pattern is cute", I found myself sitting in the shop for two hours (laughs). ). I still remember feeling very happy while being overwhelmed by the myriad types of cloth. Finding your favorite pattern from among them is like a treasure hunt. This is it! I can't say anything about the sense of accomplishment and excitement when I find my favorite pattern.

For me, this experience was a time when I focused on my "likes" in front of overwhelming choices. At the same time, even at the moment when I realized that the "common sense" that I had in myself was overturned, such as "Is this an ant !?" and "Is this color combination and pattern unique?" was. I was able to rediscover my original "like", "I really liked this kind of thing!" And "I was looking for it!".

How much time do you have in your daily life to focus on your wants and "likes"? Isn't there always somewhere under the "curse" of trying to live up to someone's expectations and staying in the common wisdom and the world, ignoring what you want to do and what you like? Isn't it an important decision based on the other person's axis of "how it is seen from the surroundings"?

I was ashamed to live that way until 10 years ago. The climax of others was when I was working as a bank clerk. At the workplace at that time, the company rules stipulated details such as suit color, nails, and hair color. I lived while paying attention to the eyes from the surroundings, and I followed the rules and wore black and navy suits according to the rules, but while I was dressed the same every day, I looked the same no matter where I turned. I realized that there were a lot of people who did it, and I felt like I was gone.

"I am here"

I was in despair because I wanted to tell you that, and I came up with the idea of ​​always choosing flashy colors and unusual designs for the innerwear that I wear in my suit (laughs). It may have been insane from the surroundings, but for me at that time, the innerwear with the colors and designs that I liked was an item that protected my personality and charged me with energetic feelings. It may be exaggerated, but thanks to the power of this color, I can realize that "I am I. I should live honestly with my feelings", and the rules and regulations that prevail in the bank He continued a modest resistance movement.

And, as a result of this, I began to ask myself "like" in my daily life. From familiar things like "who I want to play with today", "what I want to eat today", and "I want to wear this clothes today", my parents give me an air of "I want to get married soon", but now I'm getting married. Even at the crossroads of life, such as "I don't want to." By the way, I myself decided to work at the development site in Africa, which was my original want, and decided to retire from the bank in two and a half years. There was a time when I was shaken by the power of "common sense" that it would be better to stay in the bank and continue working rather than working at an NGO, but I kept asking myself "like" and the outline of "my ownness" was clear. I think that was the reason I finally decided to quit.

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I believe African prints have the power to break the "curse" as well. This is because the African print itself, in a sense, expresses beauty while wearing insane colors and patterns. Bold colors and unique patterns are in perfect harmony, "No stereotypes or social conventions are relevant. The important thing is whether you like yourselfI am strongly attracted to the figure that stands resolutely. It may be from here that customers get better when they have a bag.

We want our brand to be an opportunity for our customers to focus on what they like. I want you to pursue your own "like", not something that is "favorable" for someone. I hope you enjoy new discoveries while overturning your common sense in a good way, saying, "I choose this kind of pattern! (Surprising)" and "This kind of color combination may be wonderful." And one day, when a customer stands at an important crossroads in life, it would be great if we could make a decision focused on our "likes" and our bag was next to it. there is no.

And we don't know when the crossroads of our customers' lives will come. It may be after this today, or 30 years later. With that in mind, we at RICCI EVERYDAY will design timelessly so that we can stay with our customers anytime, anywhere and stay with them for a long time, and design so that there are no restrictions due to life events or occasions. I think that is important.

Moreover, it would be really sad if the products that support our customers' important moments come at the expense of someone else. In fact, running a fashion brand globally faces a variety of challenges.Social alienation and poor working conditions, environmental destruction, clothing disposal, racism, animal welfare, and cultural appropriation that people are suffering from.

In order to maintain a sustainable and good relationship with our customers, we need to properly address these issues and tackle them from what we can do.

For example, in Uganda's workshops, socially marginalized people such as single mothers and former child soldiers living in urban areas can be properly involved in production activities as creators.

Instead of buying something that you can't tell where and how it was produced, you can buy Made in Africa's environmentally friendly African prints, even across the African continent for half a day.

All employees should use their wisdom to eliminate as much waste as possible from manufacturing to sales.

We will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by earnestly and earnestly tackling the "right things" that we can do, whether they are simple or not in the short term. ..

That's why I made a statement of determination from the middle, but thank you for your relationship. From the above thoughts, we have built a new brand mission, tagline, concept, and three values. We look forward to your continued patronage of RICCI EVERYDAY.

【Mission】

RICCI EVERYDAY aims to create a world where women around the world can overcome social conventions and stereotypes, discover what they really want to be, and realize it.

【concept】

[Philosophie]

[New logo, thoughts in the brand color]

The new logo uses distinctively designed alphabets, such as a rounded "C" or a little sharp "A" or "V". It recalls the bold patterns and motifs of African prints, while at the same time depicting how things with diverse characteristics create a harmony. It became a logo that expresses the ideal way of RICCI EVERYDAY which consists of diversity.

In addition, the brand's key color, "RICCI BLUE", will continue to be important, and we have chosen "SPICE ORANGE" as a new accent color. These two colors are familiar in Uganda, and you can think of the Nile and the red clay.