Job Opening, Tokyo

Kanda-Awajicho, Tokyo. MITTAN, based in Kyoto, is opening a store, a gallery and an office here.

Clothes were once mended when torn, handed down when their role was over, and used up in altered forms. In Japan, between 1990 and 2019, the price of clothing fell by more than half while the volume supplied doubled. MITTAN takes no part in an apparel industry premised on short-cycle consumption and mass disposal. We make clothes that can be worn for as long as possible and brought to a proper end, and we carry out their repair, re-dyeing, buy-back and resale ourselves.

For the materials that become our clothes we set our own standards, and by the end of 2028 more than 99% of our products, by total weight, will meet them. The offcuts that do not become clothes, we aim to return to fibre, spin into yarn, and use up as fabric and furniture.

We are now looking for new people to run them. The work is divided into roles; the people are not. Each person’s scope is decided through discussion. We are looking for those who will not only carry out the role given to them but also move beyond it.

Positions
– General Manager
– Store
– Sales
– Planning
– Production Management

The general manager oversees the running of the brand as a whole — the store, sales and planning — from negotiating with partners to building the organisation. Store staff look after customers on the shop floor and receive garments for repair and re-dyeing. Sales staff handle wholesale accounts in Japan and abroad; the work is less about selling than about responding. Store staff may join planning, and sales or production staff may stand on the shop floor. Ideas for the gallery are welcome whatever your role. Clerical and routine tasks are left to new systems and technology, so that people and time can go to the work only people can do. Whichever the role, you will be involved from the opening of these premises.

Requirements
– General Manager: five or more years of management experience, able to work in English with overseas partners.
– Store, Sales, Planning, Production Management: two or more years of relevant experience.
– Full-time (with a probationary period). Mid-career hires only.
– Location: Kanda-Awajicho, Tokyo.
– Start: end of this year.
– Working hours and other conditions will be explained at interview.

Preferred
– Store: able to serve customers in basic English, with experience in mending.
– Sales: able to conduct business negotiations in English.

How to apply
Applications and enquiries, including those about remuneration, are accepted by email only, not by DM. Please state the position you wish to apply for in the subject line, and attach your CV and work history. After reviewing the documents, we will reply only to those we invite to interview.

careers@mittan.asia (Recruitment)

That clothes should remain not as short-term consumer goods but as things of lasting value — we look forward to hearing from those who will take part in that work for the long term.

MITTAN / Thread Routes LLC