Former editor-in-chief of “LEON” confesses the secret story of the birth of “slightly badass

Hmmm …… austere …… cool …….

Not only his behavior, but also the things he wears give him a sense of presence. The brown rider’s jacket and cashmere pants are perfect for the relaxed atmosphere. On his left arm is a chronograph (a high-precision wristwatch with a stopwatch function) with a black leather belt. The man sank comfortably into the sofa and began to speak quietly.

You can completely change the atmosphere of the place just by paying attention to the way you dress. It’s important to note that it’s not enough to wear a luxury brand to look cool. The important thing is the size. As you get older, you tend to wear loose-fitting clothes, but you should choose the right size for your body. You’ll look much more fashionable.

The man’s name is Ichiro Kishida (70). He is the former editor-in-chief of LEON. LEON, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, is a middle-aged men’s fashion magazine that started the “bad boy” boom with Italian TV personality Panzetta Girolamo as its model. It has become a driving force for the creation of a large number of energetic middle-aged and older men.

Mr. Kishida reveals the behind-the-scenes story of the first issue of LEON (comments below are by Mr. Kishida).

At that time, the mainstream of the fashion industry was young men in their teens and twenties, while the old men in their thirties and forties were married and had families, so they were not considered to be interested in fashion. However, they have higher disposable income and more purchasing power. Based on my previous experience as editor-in-chief of a lifestyle magazine, I thought that a fashion magazine for old men would be a success if it resonated with them.

The theme he came up with was “slightly badass. Why in the world?

Think back to your school days. Think back to when you were in school. It wasn’t only the honor students like the student body president who were popular with women. Unconventional yankees were probably the most popular.

I used the word “little” because I thought of the Japanese temperament. We tend to like the feeling of “I don’t want to stand out, but I’m a little different from the people around me. That’s why the words “little” and “petite” are often used. If you wanted to make a fashion magazine for middle-aged and older people to be popular with women, ‘a little badass’ would have been a catchy copy.

Why Italy and not the U.S. or the U.K.?

The image was not of the United States, Britain, or France, but of Italy. Moreover, Girolamo, who was almost unknown at the time, was chosen as the model.

He said, “England and France have an established image of honorable students and do not fit the ‘bad boy’ image. In this respect, the mischievous and slightly badass style of the ‘Italian old man’ was the perfect male image for LEON.

As for the models, I didn’t plan to use top-notch celebrities from the beginning. For example, even if I had asked Takuya Kimura to be the model, he would have been too cool for the readers to relate to. The important thing is to make the readers think, “If I work hard, I can become one too. In this respect, Mr. Girolamo, who appeared on NHK’s Italian language course, was perfect for me. He wasn’t tall, and with all due respect, he wasn’t a second-rate guy.

Mr. Kishida had Girolamo appear on the cover of a sample magazine before the first issue, wearing only his underwear. The sample magazine was distributed at a presentation to a group of advertising agencies. The response was not good, with participants asking, “Who is this guy? The response was not so positive.

I had my own conceit. I had my own conceit about the odds. There have been magazines targeting middle-aged and older men for a long time, but they were all catalog magazines that introduced luxury brand products. Just because you wear expensive things doesn’t mean that women are interested in you.

Whether it was good or bad, LEON was a magazine that seriously pursued the best way to achieve the goal of making old men popular. Since middle-aged and older men also have the desire to get close to women, they would want to know how. LEON quickly became a brand magazine for old men. It had a circulation of only about 100,000, but clients kept coming in and advertising revenue once exceeded 500 million yen for a single issue.

While the ladies are in the bathroom: ……

One of Mr. Kishida’s “know-hows” on how to become popular is to learn the parts of beef. When you go to a high-class yakiniku restaurant with a woman, it’s not always easy to get a conversation going. If you know the part of the beef, you can have a good skin-to-skin relationship with her. When asked, “Where is Misuzi? I would say, “This part of you. Of course, this is assuming that the relationship allows it.

The criticism of ‘vulgarity’ is misplaced. In the first place, it’s wrong to expect ideals and culture from a magazine that pursues reality. If you are looking for that, you need to read a proper book or a technical book. A magazine is like a pharmacy. If you have a cold or a stomach ache, they can give you the right medicine for your symptoms. You can’t do anything major like surgery.

Mr. Kishida also recommends playing the piano to increase a woman’s sensitivity.

“Pay the bill at a fancy restaurant. You’re paying the bill at a fancy restaurant, and before you leave, the woman you’re with goes to the restroom. When she comes back, she finds her father playing the piano in the restaurant. You don’t have to be able to play perfectly. You just need to be able to play seven or eight bars before the woman comes back. That’s all you need to do to change the woman’s impression of you. If this level of effort is enough to attract the woman of your dreams, anyone would be desperate to learn the piano.

The readers of “LEON” at the time of its first issue are now in their 50s and 60s. The readers of LEON are now in their 50s and 60s, and because they know how to be popular, they are overwhelmingly more popular with women than their younger counterparts even as they age.

I guess it’s because I’ve been alive long enough to know what I’m talking about,” he said, “because even at 70, I’m still approached by women. I guess I have more energy than a quiet teenager in his twenties. It’s not enough to wear luxury goods. To be popular with women, it’s important to be creative and inventive.

After the interview, Mr. Kishida did not drive a large luxury car, but a compact two-seater small car.

After the interview, Mr. Kishida got into a compact car that could seat two people. I think being able to choose the right vehicle for the right purpose is a requirement for a popular man.

Hmmm …… is cool!

Ichiro Kishida Ichiro Kishida was born in Osaka Prefecture in 1951. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at Nihon University, he worked as a freelance writer before joining Sekai Bunka Sha. In 2000, he moved to Shufu to Seikatsusha and launched LEON. In 2000, he moved to Shufu to Seikatsu-sha and launched LEON. He is now semi-retired, and is currently broadcasting his daily realities on YouTube, “Kishida Channel.