Elephant Brand

01

Images

—01. Kazuhiro Hirata's collection of bandanas is documented in Elephant Brand.

Words

Kazuhiro Hirata spent ten years bringing together an assortment of bandanas he wanted to wear. While in the beginning the Kapital frontman wasn't necessarily collecting them per se, a decade later and he had an impressive collection. After he'd amassed hundreds of them, mostly fast color ones, he catalogued them into this book Elephant Brand, which I finally managed to track down recently. The book gives a brief history of the cloth from all the way back in the 1600s and the Hindi origin of the word, through the American Gold Rush era up until it's prominence in Work and Western brands of the '40s and '50s. It's pretty much all in Japanese, with the exception of the amazing names Hirata has given each of his bandanas. Despite that though, the book is a fantastic visual reference of some amazing patterns and designs. It's an excellent addition for any coffee table.

Comments

[Ulysses]

You're letting Owen write again, Ryan. I've actually become more inclined to like your writing style (to Ryan), but c'mon, with sentences such as this: " While in the beginning the Kapital frontman wasn't necessarily collecting them per se, a decade later and he had an impressive collection," and word placements such as this: " Despite that though," you have to screen his writing. It really does bring down the level of intellect, as I am certain many of your readers are well-educated men. I'm just saying; Owen - you need to brush up on your writing fundamentals.

[nick]

Where did Simon Roe go?

[Tim]

Strange... I didn't realize this blog would generate a class on rhetoric

[Tim]

Dang it.. I forgot my period at the end of my sentence. Sorry.

[iain]

ulysses if youve got fuck all better to do than find fault in what people are trying to write about and how theyve wrote it
then stop reading the blogs and fuck off
ive met owen and he is a really sound bloke,and he is a really big part of the inventory that many people find very interesting

[Simon Roe]

@Nick... I'm still here; my time is just spent on other aspects of INVENTORY.

[zissou]

Shit. Time to stop reading the comments again...

[Ulysses]

Please - this "update section" generates much of the headway for the actual publication. It is, indeed, a publication and should merit proper grammar. This doesn't mean one should stop at the news stand; one should continue their perfection and ingenuity into all aspects of their related work. If not, how can you deem yourself passionate about your ambition?

Another example: " It's not quite cold enough for a sweater yet though, and to be honest I'm a bit bored with most of mine."

This sentence makes no sense. I'm not being hurtful - I'm trying to point out detracting flaws. It is all for the better of Inventory.

[heflys]

LOL @ Tim and Zissou.

[n.s.]

to the inventory staff,

maybe you should hide the comments section again, or make it "harder" to find =). it's amazing how placing the link to comments after readers have clicked on the title of the abstract can make a huge difference to the amount of comments being made.

though ulysses has a point, i think most people that post things on the internet often do it with haste. i know i've had my fair share of silly sounding posts. hell, i don't even have capitals.

but to the people that are upset with the comments he's made, it's sort of like tough love - really mean, tough love.

[disappointed]

reading all these comments that have nothing to do regarding Mr. Kazuhiro Hirata's collection / book, I think is a little dishonoring to him and makes me want to rethink next time if I should click on the comment section again

[jean-jean-uc]

Any differences between these 2 editions (look at the first 2 books):
http://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_ja_JP=%83J%83%5E%83J%83i&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=elephant+brand&x=0&y=0

[indigofan]

Elephant Brand (the first book) is a much larger format than Elephant Brand2 (the second book) which is truly pocket size, but with many more pages. Get the first book if you want bigger pictures. Get the second book if you want to see more bandana designs.

Feel free to pick on my writing skills.