Between The Lines 016: Akmé
Carving Your Own Path with Jesus & Riko Diaz
Words: Siân Toolan
We sat down with our good friends Jesus and Riko to discuss the launch of their creative footwear project Akmé. Carving their own path in the industry, we got to know the story of a brand that specialises in storytelling.
Akmé, launched this year, offers a distinct perspective on the capabilities of a brand today. Occupying a self-designated space between platform and brand, Akmé seeks to connect with creatives and consumers alike through skilled, local American production, rich storytelling and refined art direction. With its name derived from a universal remote code - acme - and its equallyfitting definition as “the highest or critical point”, the project is the meeting point of Jesus and Riko Diaz; the apex of their positive ideology and collaborative working relationship. Seamlessly merging their diverse skill-sets and backgrounds, the duo share the role of Akme’s creative direction, while Riko heads up visual art direction and Jesus runs the product design and development.
It was on a project in LA that Jesus and Riko first crossed paths. Perhaps it’s kismet, that two people with wildly different backgrounds and experiences would find themselves in the same place, but it’s this convergence of events that gave birth to Akmé. At age 20, Jesus made the decision not to pursue industrial design school, enrolling rather in the school of life within the factories of LA. Working with bespoke footwear makers, Jesus learned exactly what he chose to learn and, as a result, he’s undoubtedly a renaissance man of the footwear field, not only able to design a shoe but able to deliver it from concept to render to physical, wearable product. “My past was about learning how to do what I wanted to do, but meeting Riko helped me find the why” explains Jesus.
Riko, born in Tokyo, moved to London to study Fashion Communication and Promotion at Central Saint Martins. During her second year of school she interned with Christopher Simmonds, the former Creative Director of Dazed and Confused and a key figure in Gucci’s re-imagining under Alessandro Michele, and by the time of her placement year - a paramount part of the Saint Martins experience - she set her sights on America. Working in the entertainment industry, Riko quickly established herself as an Art Director that is adept at conceptualising visual stories and building universes that are rooted in deep, devoted research. It wasn’t long in LA before she met Jesus.
Their first year as a couple was set against the turbulent political landscape of COVID, of the US Election, of growing civil unrest and the global Black Lives Matter movement. It was a contemplative period for most, and one in which the pair considered what they could contribute to society, not only within their creative networks but from their perspective as minorities in America. “It was important for us to talk to our experience and the only way we knew how was for Jesus to design and make shoes and for me to art direct” explains Riko. Starting a brand was a natural progression of their conversations at the time, reinforced by a frustration at the limited opportunities and creative limitations within their professional fields.“A lot of people were gearing towards sales outcomes more than self expression” - and obviously creatives need to make a living - "but we wanted to create in a space without guidelines or constraints” says Jesus. Once they realised that together they were able to birth an idea, from start to finish, without anyone else, they started Akmé with one sewing machine, a studio apartment and a common ground.
Earnestly, Riko admits that it was an emotionally difficult period but the experience became about “accepting each other as they are”, learning about their unique past and histories and reclaiming or transforming those stories together. It was through Riko that Jesus learnt “to pull ideas from different places and give them a new life”; to utilise personal inspiration and push the boundaries of storytelling. Akmé draws upon Riko’s archive of cultural references, like Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and 1960s' Japanese post-war photography-magazine, Provoke, whilst simultaneously reflecting upon the roles of Jesus’ parents as Mexican migrants working in factories. Transforming technical, functional workwear - that’s engrained in Jesus’ everyday - into luxury moves beyond the ironic or humorous into the beautiful. “It’s about taking the power of your past and reshaping it; reshaping negative perceptions into something positive” explains Jesus. This in itself is the message of Miyazaki’s dystopian Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: that even in unprecedented times, amidst chaos, we can find new modes of living, we can grow, we can innovate. Finding light in the darkness, “searching for the beautiful side” is the overarching ideology of Akmé.
“I like being able to run around LA and make a shoe in a couple of days, through different people we've met over time”
JESUS DIAZ, co-founder of akme
Pattern process of UNTITLED-01
It’s an ideology that permeates all corners of the brand: from their inspiration to their visual identity, product design and local production. Their first project E-31, launched for AW23, introduces the universe of Akmé through the concept of identity loss and otherness, of trying to fit in when the system isn’t designed for you. It’s the process of assimilating in America; of “trying to integrate into a society when you don’t quite look the part” and you can see it in the shoes. The story is told across five all-black silhouettes, hand-manufactured in the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. They’re chaotic yet minimal, “referencing existing shoes, whether it’s a boot or hiking shoe, and remixing or distorting them to create an almost bootleg version” explains Jesus. By redesigning footwear archetypes, Akmé delivers a familiar unfamiliarity that’s as unsettling as it is inviting, like finding out “what kind of American you want to be” says Riko. AW23’s visual identity paints a similarly vivid picture.
“Each collection is like an album, that talks about current events or a specific timeframe, and has its own concept and cover art”
riko DIAZ, co-founder of akme
The immersive visual introduction to Akmé’s “brave new world” is a collaborative effort, not only between Jesus and Riko but contemporary Eastern European creatives Liza Barbakadze and Victor Shevchenko. Despite their geographical differences, what Akmé and its collaborators share is an ability to tap into the personal; stitching moments in time into the seems of their work. AW23, or E-31, mimics traditional propaganda strategies employed by governments to beautify and sell their ideologies to the working-classes. The resulting visual language is defined by graffiti-like graphics that are both busy and stripped back, both rebellious and rigid, black and white. Observing the social-political climate in Eastern Europe, Liza finds the light, the beauty in the ugly, in the everyday and in an another moment in time shrouded by darkness. It’s the Akmé way.
There’s a larger, continuous narrative that will follow the brand as they move through collections, explains Riko. It’s one that is rooted in identity, recontextualising the past and imagining the future. Nevertheless, each collection will have a different concept and modes of storytelling, in which the duo collaborate with different artists to best express a topic of conversation. “Each collection is like an album” explains Riko, which makes perfect sense given her work in the music industry, and each collection will be rolled out in this way. For musicians, concept albums reflect upon the current climate or a specific timeframe for the artist, with their own visual identity and unique list of collaborators. Still, even if that album slips between genres or is unlike anything in the artist’s catalogue, there’s a thread of the artist you recognise. You’ll still know its Akmé, believes Riko, as the hybrid brand will remain “unafraid of politics”; of bringing difficult conversations to the industry and focused upon transparency, quality and lasting product.
“It's important for people to exercise localised manufacturing, because it actually gives you more creative freedom”
JESUS DIAZ, co-founder of akme
Alongside Akmé’s personal, “purpose-driven” collections, the brand operates function-driven, free-thinking shoe design that maintains their ethos of limited-scale, local production, otherwise known as Research & Development. It’s a testament to Jesus’ talents and network. “I like being able to run around LA and make a shoe in a couple of days, through different people we've met over time” he laughs. “It's important for people to exercise localised manufacturing, because it actually gives you more creative freedom”; it’s a leverage not a limitation. Working with what you have is the positive outlook expected from the minds behind Akmé. While the quality of clothing has declined rapidly in the last 30 years, Akmé seeks to show the capabilities of American production to be high quality, with products that are strong, durable and don’t cut corners.
For AW23, Akmé released only 50 pairs of shoes - 10 of each silhouette - crafted from ultradurable horse-tanned cow leather, primarily used for work boots and chiefly found in LA. These limited runs imbue Akme’s luxury designs with even more collectibility, as though art object or limited edition album releases. Jesus believes that well-crafted shoes should be appreciated as such, as special, as they are the “product of a lot of effort” of minds and makers. “We don’t want to lose the perspective of the product journey” and that’s what Akmé hopes stays with the consumer most of all. Promising a perspective and visual experience alongside exclusive, lasting product, it’s wholly unsurprising that Akmé have attracted equally experiential buyers like Dover Street Market. As of February next year, launching exclusively with DSM Ginza, Akmé shoes will be available in store; for you to try, buy and feel the craftsmanship. With DSM Paris and other stores to follow, “it’s truly motivating for us to keep doing what we started and grow it naturally, without having to compromise too much” says Jesus. Their objective is to evolve into a platform more than a personal brand, in which these experiences translate not just to consumers but fellow creatives.
Jesus and Riko’s long-term goal is to give the gift of self expression to other artists, to promote and encourage talent just as sportswear brands do for the athlete community. As a platform, Akmé would work to challenge the current systems of stunted creativity and big brand thinking by opening doors and building an ecosystem of like-minded creatives, “where there’s enough synergy and trust to relinquish control and let artists express themselves”. It’s clear that Akmé thinks beyond the confines of traditional designers or brands, and if Akmé represents anything above all, it is that hard work pays off. Jesus’ journey, from rejecting the conventional route of design school to working with small makers and factories, demonstrates that you don’t need to work for the big conglomerates to make your way in this industry. However humble your beginnings, with a focused direction and good old hard labour, you can cut through the noise of the footwear industry. It was through meeting Riko - the Renaissance woman to his Renaissance man - that Jesus solidified his point of view and it might taking meeting your match, your perfect collaborative partner to make it in this industry, or it might not. Jesus and Riko Diaz’s work is proof that you can carve your own path and, if you’re lucky enough, that path might cross with Akmé somewhere along the way.