In 2019, during Paris Fashion Week, the London-based creative duo OK-RM encountered a young Taiga Takahashi, an aspiring designer interning with Matthew Williams at ALYX. Witnessing OK-RM breathe life into ALYX's brand, Taiga approached the duo a few years later to collaborate, seeking their assistance in bringing his own brand to life. Countless hours of engaging conversations gave birth to what we now recognize as T.T – a unisex clothing brand based in Kyoto and New York, seamlessly blending Japanese craftsmanship with American vintage aesthetics.

OK-RM is the practice of Oliver Knight and Rory McGrath. They established their London-based studio in 2008 and have engaged in collaborations with close collaborations and projects with the likes of  Virgil Abloh, JW Anderson, Vivienne Westwood and the late Taiga Takahashi amongst many others. In my conversation with Rory, it became apparent that the duo is exceptionally attentive to the 'language' they employ. They prefer the term 'collaborators' over 'clients' and prioritize 'creating an identity' rather than 'branding'. This meticulous choice of language highlights the depth of detail and dedication they invest in their work, where they recognize that every element is interconnected and indispensable to the completion of their final projects. Perhaps this attention to detail is what initially attracted Taiga to them and why the duo possesses a profound understanding of the nuances and sensitivities of Kyoto culture.

Little did OK-RM anticipate two challenges upon working with Taiga: crafting the brand's essence solely through Zoom conversations and shouldering the task of carrying on Taiga Takahashi's legacy after his sudden passing in April 2022 at age 27. We spoke with Rory about their work with Taiga, their insights on the ancient capital, and how they're preserving Taiga's legacy.

SARA: Ok, let’s start with the easy questions. Could you please tell us who OK-RM is? What do you guys do?

RORY: Okay, that's the hardest question.

SARA: Sorry!! but you can simplify it if you like?

RORY: No, no, that's fine. I mean, who is OK-RM? OK-RM is Oliver Knight and Rory McGrath. We, Oliver and I, started the studio in 2008. So OK-RM was founded as a means to collaborate with one another. Humble humble beginnings.You know, we set up a studio, collaborated closely with each other, and then opened up to working with others. And that's always been our modus operandi. It’s really about questioning the potential of synthesis and building a single work with a number of authors and voices from a variety of practices, cultures and generations.

SARA: You know, I think I read somewhere that OK-RM don't really give each other roles or you don’t call yourselves ‘creative directors’?

RORY: That's true. I mean, it's just because the words that describe ‘creative directors’ at this point in time aren't very accurate. So we don't always feel that we inherit the right title or title that really explains exactly what OK-RM is. So we prefer ideally for people to understand more about OK-RM and our way of working, and then just refer to those involved and disregard titles. But, you know, that's probably more to do with an interest in language. And so I guess progress to an extent. You know, this idea that we might develop to such a degree that we can transcend our titles and just become people in this world, working together.

SARA: You seem to work with a lot of brands, designers, studios, but it seems like you do work with quite a lot of fashion brands. Is cultivating an identity for fashion brands, your strength or focus? 

RORY: Well, I think the thing that if you boil it down, the thing that makes a consistent thread is that we work with other creative people. Obviously, fashion, in general, is design-based. It's by artists, designers. So generally we don't work with brands as in this idea of a faceless brand corporation of different people where we're meeting the team. It's not to say we don't work with internal teams, but we tend to work with the protagonists or the makers. 

SARA: How did you meet Taiga? How did it all start? 

RORY: In a quite conventional way. We met him during Fashion Week in Paris. At that point, Taiga was quite different. He had grown up inside the fashion industry and had a brand focused on women's fashion in a conventional way. When we met Taiga, he was beginning to question his true path. It was an interesting time to meet him. That was Paris, I guess, in about 2019, probably around February.

SARA: Did he come to OK-RM and say, 'Can you help me with creating my brand?'

RORY: Yes, exactly. He was at the beginning of that journey. It wasn't very clear. He felt something and wanted to understand that feeling and untangle it. He knew about us through Matthew (Williams) since he had interned at ALYX. He learned about us from reading our manifesto and working with Matthew, realizing that we can be introspective and untangle concepts. He wanted to embark on that journey with us.

SARA: What was the process like for untangling and expressing his ideas? How did you guys do that with Taiga?

RORY: Well, honestly, through hours and hours of conversation. For days, weeks, months—over a two-year period. It was about six months intensely of talking and building a manifesto, creating the backbone concept for what would become T.T, a passion project we know today. Conversations with Taiga were never quick. He genuinely cared about what was being said; every word was important. So there was a lot of time given to those conversations and we had the time because it was the pandemic. 

SARA: How would you describe Taiga Takahashi or his brand? What are the core values of his brand?

RORY: Well, it's quite broad, isn't it? It's not solely his; he's more like a channel for the deep historical, spiritual, and philosophical journey inherited from Zen Buddhism, Shintoism, and various other philosophies developed along the way. Designers like Isamu Noguchi from the contemporary modern era play a key role in Taiga's reference points. It's not about starting something entirely new; it's more about continuing a tradition. What's unusual is that someone at his age and position, creating the kind of work he does, delves deeply into history, time, and tradition. “So in a sense, I think one of the things we need to do is to support young creativity 'pedagogically' through education in order to promote young creativity within that legacy.”

SARA: What is your involvement with T.T now? 

RORY: Post Taiga? Well, we're very involved. It’s been quite a journey. Obviously, Taiga passed away in April, and we had to figure out a way of continuing the project and felt extremely motivated to do so based on continuing Taiga's legacy. It's not about continuing as if Taiga is here; it's about acknowledging his absence and the opportunities he leaves behind to build something. When someone who was the protagonist or the pinnacle of a project or anything dies, then it offers the opportunity for a certain kind of myth to start to take shape.

SARA: How is OK-RM continuing his legacy?

RORY: In a sense, we're guiding his journey and starting to think about how we share these ideas built by Taiga, also linked to many other ideas and historic figures, and contemporary figures, and figure out how to share that with the world. So if you talk about legacy, I think one of the things Taiga wanted to do was to make a change in how Japanese and, in a sense, global designers, artists, craftspeople acknowledge and have a deeper relationship with the past and want to continue forward. 

SARA: What is your involvement with T.T now? 

RORY: Post Taiga? Well, we're very involved. It’s been quite a journey. Obviously, Taiga passed away in April, and we had to figure out a way of continuing the project and felt extremely motivated to do so based on continuing Taiga's legacy. It's not about continuing as if Taiga is here; it's about acknowledging his absence and the opportunities he leaves behind to build something. When someone who was the protagonist or the pinnacle of a project or anything dies, then it offers the opportunity for a certain kind of myth to start to take shape.

SARA: How is OK-RM continuing his legacy?

RORY: In a sense, we're guiding his journey and starting to think about how we share these ideas built by Taiga, also linked to many other ideas and historic figures, and contemporary figures, and figure out how to share that with the world. So if you talk about legacy, I think one of the things Taiga wanted to do was to make a change in how Japanese and, in a sense, global designers, artists, craftspeople acknowledge and have a deeper relationship with the past and want to continue forward. So it's not so much about inventing a new philosophy; it's about the position and context that makes it resonate.