''Take Ivy'' is a 1965

fashion photography Fashion photography is a genre of photography which is devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items, sometimes haute couture. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking a picture of a dressed model in a photographic studio o ...

book which documents the attire of

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

students from the 1960s. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described it as "a treasure of fashion insiders". ''Take Ivy'' has been the Ivy League bible for Japanese

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. Th ...

and has also influenced a "neo-Ivy" style in recent years. The book has sold over fifty thousand copies worldwide. Original copies are rare in the West, garnering auction prices as high as $2,000.

Background

''Take Ivy'' was authored by four Japanese sartorial style enthusiasts and is a collection of candid photographs shot on the campuses of America's elite Ivy League universities. The series focuses on college-aged men and their clothes between 1959 and 1965. Whether getting a meal on campus, lounging in the quad, riding bikes, studying in the library, in class, or at the boathouse, the subjects of this photographic compendium are impeccably and distinctively dressed in fine American-made garments.

Reception

Famous American designers such as

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

and

J. Crew J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dr ...

both display copies of "Take Ivy" in their store shelves. The style is considered a classic as magazine editors and retailers proudly display looks taken straight from the photos from the book.

Authors

''Take Ivy'' was a photography book done by a Japanese photographer and men's style enthusiasts. The title was inspired by the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

song "

Take Five "Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by saxophonist Paul Desmond and originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for their album ''Time Out'' at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studios in New York City on July 1, 1959. Two years later it b ...

" by

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

.''Preppy: Cultivating Ivy Style''; Jeffrey Banks and Doria de la Chapelle, Rizzoli Teruyoshi Hayashida was born and raised in the fashionable Aoyama District of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He began shooting cover images for ''Men's Club'' magazine right after the title's launch. His style is considered to be highly sophisticated and he is a connoisseur of gourmet food. Shosuke Ishizu, the director of Ishizu Office, was born in

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

. He started working in the editorial division at Men's Club after graduating from Kuwasawa Design School. He established Ishizu Office in 1983, and continues to produce several clothing brands including Niblick. Toshiyuki Kurosu joined in 1961, where he developed merchandise and promoted sales. He left the company in 1970 and started his own business called Cross and Simon. After the brand stopped doing business, Toshiyuki began appearing as a regular guest on the hit variety show called ''

Asayan ''Asayan'', originally known as was a talent search variety show that aired on TV Tokyo from 1995 to 2002. Some idols that were originally discovered through Asayan auditions produced by Tsunku, formed groups that worked under the umbrella grou ...

''. Toshiyuki is also an active writer and intellectual. Hajime (Paul) Hasegawa is from Hyogo Prefecture. After finishing his studies in the U.S. in 1963, Hasegawa returned to Japan to join VAN Jacket Inc. There he was responsible for

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

. Hasegawa was the main coordinator and interpreter for the production of ''Take Ivy''. Since then he held various managerial positions in Japan and abroad. He is currently serving as the executive director for Cosmo Public Relations Corporation.

Publishing

''Take Ivy'' was originally published in 1965 in Japan by Fujingahosha magazine publishers, known today as Hachette Fujuingaho, Co., Ltd. The latest edition was published by

powerHouse Books powerHouse Books is an independent publisher of art and photography books founded in 1995 by Daniel Power, based near the Brooklyn waterfront of DUMBO in The powerHouse Arena. The powerHouse Arena also serves as a gallery, bookstore, and event ...

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

on August 31, 2010, and retails for USD $24.95 and CAD $28.95. In 2011 a Dutch translation was written by Michael Hendriks and published by Parvenu Publishers, retailing for €19,95.

Background

Reception

Authors

Publishing

References

Further reading