Elie Inoue The News, one of New York’s most prominent showrooms, celebrates the 10th anniversary of its in-house line 6397 this year. The campaign for the brand’s Fall-Winter 2022-23 collection was shot by the influential street subculture photographer Ari Marcopolous. “Shooting with Ari was a special moment of synergy,” recalls Stella Ishii, the Creative Director of 6397 and founder and president of The News Inc.
Since its launch in 2013 as an in-house brand of The News, Ishii herself has been directing the creation of the 6397 collection. Her direction is characterized by loose silhouettes, and materials and color palettes that evoke a sense of the seasons. Slipping on what seems like an ordinary sleeve unsuspectingly, one finds something special. Her designs are trimmed of excess, and leave nothing to distract from the wearer’s sense of self. The clothes have a sense of purity and a mysterious charm, as if they are filled with the spirit of Ishii herself; they evoke the image of a woman living in modern New York who enjoys fashion for her own sake.
As a fashion brand sales representative, Ishii made her career helping designers maximize their individuality and intuition, but launching 6397 was a new challenge for her, very different from her work as a president. Ten years have passed since then. We asked her about the growth of the label, the recent campaign shoot with Ari Marcopoulos, and the philosophy behind the brand.
Responding to the times while retaining a sense of timelessness
—What was your reason to launch 6397?
Ishii: Since launching The News in 2000, I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with talented designers to give shape to their dreams. I help young designers who have just started and have no expertise with accounting, shipping, or other business operations. I coach them to balance business and creation by giving them feedback from buyers. After decades of cultivating this experience, my partner Lars Karlsson, one of the founders of Cheap Monday pushed me to start my own brand. As someone who had previously worked in a business support role for a brand, it was somewhat challenging for me to hold onto my own experiences and preferences while transforming them into clothing. 6397 was born as an extension of The News Inc., and it’s a brand that reflects my own style and the style of the women I work with.
—How would you describe the worldview of 6397?
Ishii: I would say it is a realistic style rooted in real life. In contrast to fashion brands that bring dreams and fantasies to the wearer, 6397 believes in being close to daily life and letting one’s individual personality shine. Clothes express their essence when you actually wear them. We make items that gently accompany many people in their day-to-day lives, whether that’s going to work or out to dinner with friends. Timeless, yet with an expressive power that responds to the times, the style is always “realistic.”
—It would seem to me that the brand has grown naturally without any major advertising, but was the campaign shot by Ari Markopolos taking things in a new direction to celebrate the 10th anniversary?
Ishii: The 10th anniversary!? I’m just realizing that for the first time. [Laughs] I wasn’t aware of the number at all. There’s no doubt that these three years of the covid pandemic were a turning point for the brand. The campaign falling on the anniversary year is coincidental, but it must be a turning point.
Encountering Ari Marcopoulos as a fan
—What are some of the changes you’ve seen during the pandemic?
Ishii: The pandemic brought everything to a halt. I think it caused us to stop and think about what we are doing, what we are finding joy in, and what is truly meaningful. For me, even my sense of time has changed. When I thought deeply about the 6397 brand, I realized that I needed to change my approach from designing vintage-inspired pieces to something more exciting. We were relying too much on vintage and it was time to shift to a direction that would stimulate the creativity of the team. The pre-pandemic 6397 team had no designated designers but we added new professionals in the fields of textiles, knitwear, and technical design to the team. Strengthening the creative side has been a challenge for us, and we all think that it was a worthwhile thing to consider given the restrictions of the pandemic.
—You also took on the challenge of shooting the campaign and lookbook for the Fall/Winter 2022-23 collection, which came from this new team. Did you have a previous relationship with the photographer, Ari Marcopoulos?
Ishii: No, it was a total coincidence. I had known of Ari long before I started 6397, and I was also a fan of his work. I arranged a number of his photos on a mood board, and wanted to shoot a campaign that resembled it. Ari’s photographs of New York encapsulate the city’s spirit and culture. They are not too rough, not too perfect, and alive with a “realness.” I believe that this is a projection of his own life, and one that I am fascinated with, so I wanted to express that through 6397. But I never thought that I’d actually be able to make that request of him. It just so happened that a graphic designer I’ve worked with for over 20 years had been in touch with Ari, and that designer put me in touch with him. I had been wanting to do a shoot beyond the lookbooks for many years, but it never happened. It was a total coincidence that the timing of everything came together, a new collection with a new team, taking campaign photographs for the first time, with Ari there to shoot them.
—How did the shoot with Ari go after your wish was realized?
Ishii: He showed up at the meeting place with two analog cameras hanging from his neck. No assistants, no other equipment. He wasn’t needlessly chatty or overly affable, but very kind and nice. Even though he’s a celebrity, he was modest and really cool. After a brief meeting about the location, we headed to the location and simply captured the moments as they happened on the street as we walked about. The photos capture the real life of New York as it is today, and we’re very happy with the results, which exceeded our expectations.
—What are some of the changes you’ve seen during the pandemic?
Ishii: The pandemic brought everything to a halt. I think it caused us to stop and think about what we are doing, what we are finding joy in, and what is truly meaningful. For me, even my sense of time has changed. When I thought deeply about the 6397 brand, I realized that I needed to change my approach from designing vintage-inspired pieces to something more exciting. We were relying too much on vintage and it was time to shift to a direction that would stimulate the creativity of the team. The pre-pandemic 6397 team had no designated designers but we added new professionals in the fields of textiles, knitwear, and technical design to the team. Strengthening the creative side has been a challenge for us, and we all think that it was a worthwhile thing to consider given the restrictions of the pandemic.
—You also took on the challenge of shooting the campaign and lookbook for the Fall/Winter 2022-23 collection, which came from this new team. Did you have a previous relationship with the photographer, Ari Marcopoulos?
Ishii: No, it was a total coincidence. I had known of Ari long before I started 6397, and I was also a fan of his work. I arranged a number of his photos on a mood board, and wanted to shoot a campaign that resembled it. Ari’s photographs of New York encapsulate the city’s spirit and culture. They are not too rough, not too perfect, and alive with a “realness.” I believe that this is a projection of his own life, and one that I am fascinated with, so I wanted to express that through 6397. But I never thought that I’d actually be able to make that request of him. It just so happened that a graphic designer I’ve worked with for over 20 years had been in touch with Ari, and that designer put me in touch with him. I had been wanting to do a shoot beyond the lookbooks for many years, but it never happened. It was a total coincidence that the timing of everything came together, a new collection with a new team, taking campaign photographs for the first time, with Ari there to shoot them.
—How did the shoot with Ari go after your wish was realized?
Ishii: He showed up at the meeting place with two analog cameras hanging from his neck. No assistants, no other equipment. He wasn’t needlessly chatty or overly affable, but very kind and nice. Even though he’s a celebrity, he was modest and really cool. After a brief meeting about the location, we headed to the location and simply captured the moments as they happened on the street as we walked about. The photos capture the real life of New York as it is today, and we’re very happy with the results, which exceeded our expectations.
—How did you go through the casting?
Ishii: The two female couple models who came to the pre-collection casting matched the image we had for the campaign perfectly. I thought they looked really beautiful just as they were, without having any hair work or makeup done. Life experience and our human characteristics show on the surface, and these two women expressed the 6397 style in a very real way. The synergy between the models and Ari’s photography perfectly reflects the core of 6397, which is rooted in real life; the idea that clothes worn over and over again as everyday wear become a part of one’s life. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the campaign posters on street corners around New York from mid-September.
—In addition to this campaign shoot, 6397, which incorporates culture into fashion, has collaborated with many contemporary artists, and made a collaborative line in support of Native American tribes in the Southwest. Now that you have a new team and are at a turning point, what kind of projects do you have planned for the future?
Ishii: For the past three years, 6397 has supported the Creative Growth Art Center, an NGO that helps people with intellectual and physical disabilities to express themselves. In November, the flagship store of 6397 in SoHo will hold a pop-up event to sell T-shirts, jeans, and other items of clothing produced by the Creative Growth Art Center. All proceeds will be donated to the organization. We will continue with these art and culture-oriented activities, but beyond that we have almost no plans for the future. One of the most important things we’ve learned during this pandemic is the fact that the future is unpredictable. We will continue to deliver realistic clothing, sensing the atmosphere of the times as they come.
Stella Ishii
Founder and President of the showroom The News and Creative Director of 6397. After working for Comme des Garçons in Japan, she worked for Maison Martin Margiela and Vivienne Westwood in the U.S. market, engaged in PR and sales. In the late ‘90s, she moved to New York and launched The News Inc. Recently, she has played a role in the global expansion of such brands as Sacai and Needles.
