An intimate portrait of Jeff “Yoki” Yokoyama, who runs Yokishop out of a small storefront on Coast Highway in Newport Beach.
Yoki makes one-of-a-kind clothing from things the world had already given up on: retired football uniforms, old military jackets, worn-out Levi’s. He drafts his own patterns, cuts every piece by hand, and sews it all right there in the shop.
His guiding idea is “mottainai,” the Japanese principle of wasting nothing, and we tried to make the film the same way. A small crew, a lot of patience, and room for the scissors and the sewing machine to do most of the talking!
It’s hard to spend a day in that shop without looking at your own closet differently. Several of us went home with the uneasy suspicion that our old jeans had been underachieving.
Selected moments from the project.