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Driving Force
Words by Anh-Minh Le
Photos by Kelsey Wisdom
Video by Grant Kinsey
Like many travelers heading north from Los Angeles, scenic Highway 1 initially drew Hiroki Nakamura to the Central Coast; first to Big Sur and then, about eight or nine years ago, to Carmel during Monterey Car Week. He continued to visit each ensuing summer—never by plane, always in one of his vintage cars. “We love driving up the coast of California,” he says. “It’s almost like meditation.”
A couple of years back, he decided to not only make Carmel his home, but also open the third U.S. outpost of his cult Tokyo-based clothing brand, Visvim, in town. “Carmel, this area, is inspiring,” Nakamura says. “Specifically, for me, light is very important. The morning is foggy, the afternoon is sunny. It’s just beautiful.”
The 3,100-square-foot Visvim store on San Carlos Street opened last fall, slightly behind schedule. Nakamura had hoped to open in time for Car Week 2023 and simultaneously launch Visvim Motors Club, an automotive-inspired capsule collection. This summer, he anticipates debuting the sophomore VMC range in Carmel around Car Week in August. It will consist of more than a dozen styles, including lightweight outerwear, t-shirts, sweatshirts and knits, plus accessories such as driving shoes and gloves.
August will bring the Fall/Winter 2024 collection as well. Look for jackets made with an army twill material that blends wool and silk for a nylon-like feel. “We want to make something that lasts,” Nakamura says of the concept behind the brand, no matter the season. “So, 50 years later, people will be like, ‘Wow, someone made this in 2024.’ I think a product should be better as you use it more.”
Photo by Keisuke Fukamizu
Although much has been reported about its celebrity clientele—John Mayer and Rihanna have worn the label—Nakamura notes that Visvim is a family business. Among his favorite places in downtown Carmel are fellow family-run operations Stationæry restaurant and Fourtané Jewelers (for its vintage watch selection).
After eight years as a designer at Burton Snowboards, Nakamura founded Visvim in 2000, specializing in footwear in the early days. A women’s line, WMV, led by his wife, Kelsi, was established in 2013, and today accounts for about 20 percent of the company’s offerings. His daughter, Riko is involved with Visvim, too, joining the couple on trips to swap meets and flea markets as they procure items that spark interest and, potentially, design ideas.
Nakamura approaches design “from the inside out—from the yarn, the dye, the fabric,” he says. “You can’t just make it look like something on the outside.” Hence, he often relies on centuries-old processes. Natural dyeing techniques, like aizome (indigo dyeing) and dorozome (mud dyeing), “give a richness,” he observes. “It’s not 100 percent consistent, but that gives it a beauty. It’s a product with humanity, character.”
Mawata silk, which entails treating silk cocoons in hot water and stretching them into sheet-like forms, is light and soft, yet durable. Nakamura discovered circa-1800s kimono jackets that used the material as insulation and introduced it as a fill for Visvim outerwear. “It drapes and is very elegant,” he says. “We make casual clothes, but it’s really nice and different.”
A native of Japan, Nakamura has long been fascinated by the natural world and objects with a history. As a teenager, vintage fashions caught his attention. And he has been collecting vintage cars for about two decades now.
In Carmel, Nakamura dwells in a 1920s house, made of redwood and surrounded by trees, and takes walks at Point Lobos. He also maintains residences in Tokyo and Los Angeles. The former dates to the Edo period and the latter is a mid-century modern gem by architect Richard Neutra.
Around the time that Nakamura moved to Carmel, he locked in the Visvim spot in town. Along with clothing, it purveys a small assortment of vintage Japanese ceramics, mostly from the Mingei folk-art movement that developed in the 1920s. While large bay windows flank the sage-green front door, Nakamura added three skylights that let in even more natural light.
Behind each of the two oak counters, whose naguri finish was done by hand using a chouna (Japanese adze), hangs a painted Japanese screen from the 1700s, depicting a festival in Kyoto. A vintage sound system occupies the middle section of the shop; Nakamura is partial to jazz and records from the 1930s and ’40s.
Visvim—including its retail environments in Japan, Santa Fe, Los Angeles and now Carmel—is a decidedly personal expression. “I make something that I like to wear; Kelsi designs something that she likes to wear,” Nakamura says. “And the store should be a comfortable space, a place that we would like to go.”
Another feature in the Carmel location furthers its welcoming vibe. “I heard that it was a grocery store for downtown for a long time,” he says of the building’s heritage. “That inspired me: Let’s have a coffee counter, so people can come in and just hang out.” <img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6457f19f1c1e1601e2c9c3f6/6487a9355b63a6818c705cea_CC-Icon--20.svg"alt="CC" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 100%; min-width: 12px; width: 12px; height: 12px;">
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Anh-Minh Le is a Bay Area-based freelance writer and editor whose bylines have appeared in publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, Nob Hill Gazette, WSJ. Magazine, CA Home+Design, Luxe Interiors + Design, Diablo and C Magazine.