Before Isekaid Apparel had released anything, I was basically just making a bunch of random ideas and sketches, trying to figure out what I actually wanted the brand to look like. Most of those early designs were made on my 32 GB iPad 8, which somehow survived me constantly running out of storage while I was drawing everything.

One of the earliest designs I made was what would eventually become the Corp Zip-Up Hoodie, and I remember this one standing out to me almost immediately. Out of all the concepts I had made at the time, it was one of the first where I looked at it and genuinely thought, I would actually wear this if it existed.

That was a pretty important moment for me because, at the time, I wasn't completely sure where I wanted to take the brand yet. I had multiple designs I could have turned into the first product, but the Corp hoodie was the one I trusted the most.

From the Demon Slayer Corps to a Hoodie

There wasn't some insanely deep reason behind choosing Demon Slayer for the first product. I just always thought the Demon Slayer Corps uniforms looked really cool, especially the all-black look, the silhouette of the uniform, the pants, and obviously the huge kanji on the back.

Whenever I saw the Corps uniform, I kept thinking about how well those elements could translate into actual streetwear. I basically imagined taking that same dark aesthetic and turning it into an oversized black zip-up hoodie that was subtle enough to wear normally without feeling like you were walking around in a costume.

That eventually became one of my early sketches, and even though I had plenty of other designs to choose from, this was the one that felt the safest to actually turn into a real garment. It was dark, pretty minimal, recognizable if you knew what it was referencing, and most importantly, it looked like something I personally wanted to wear.

So that ended up becoming Drop 001.

Making It Feel Like More Than Basic Anime Merch

While I was developing the hoodie, one thing I became really focused on was making sure Isekaid didn't turn into another anime brand that just took a graphic, screen printed it onto a basic hoodie, and called it a day.

I wanted the actual clothing to feel like it had some thought behind it, even if someone didn't care about the anime reference at all. The problem was that I didn't really know much about making clothing yet, so I started researching everything I could about fabrics, garment weights, printing, embroidery, different decoration methods, and basically all the technical things that I had never needed to think about while I was just sketching designs.

That's actually when I first learned what GSM was. After looking into different weights, I eventually settled on 460 GSM cotton fleece because I wanted the hoodie to feel genuinely heavyweight and premium without going so heavy that it became uncomfortable to wear. I also wanted that oversized streetwear look, so the fit was made slightly boxy and oversized instead of fitting like a normal basic zip-up.

The biggest thing I cared about, though, was how the actual designs were going to be put onto the hoodie.

The Satin-Stitch Appliqué

Originally, I thought about fully embroidering the massive kanji on the back, which probably would have looked insane, but the cost of doing embroidery at that size started becoming pretty unreasonable. I still didn't want to just screen print it, though, because I wanted the design to have some actual dimension to it.

That's when I started researching appliqué and eventually found satin-stitch appliqué.

The final Corp hoodie uses separate pieces of fabric for the designs that are physically attached to the garment and finished around the edges with satin-stitch embroidery. That means the large kanji on the back and the two front design elements aren't just graphics printed onto the cotton; they're actually layered pieces stitched onto the hoodie itself.

This is probably one of the coolest things about the original Corp hoodie that doesn't translate very well through pictures. From a normal distance, especially in some of the older photos, it can honestly look like the designs are screen printed. Once you actually see the hoodie up close, though, you can see that the artwork is raised off the garment, you can see all the stitching around the edges, and if you turn the hoodie inside out, you can literally see the construction from the other side.

I really liked that because it gave the design a much more physical feeling instead of it just being an image sitting on top of a hoodie, and it helped establish the level of detail I wanted Isekaid products to have going forward.

Getting the First Sample Right

Once I had the design figured out, I spent a lot of time putting together the tech pack and eventually sent everything over to the manufacturer. I was obviously insanely excited when the first sample came in because this was the first time one of my designs had actually become a real piece of clothing.

The problem was that the first sample wasn't quite right.

The kanji on the back wasn't sized the way I wanted it, and the zipper placement was too low, which left way too much of the neck area exposed. They weren't necessarily massive problems, but I cared enough about how the final hoodie looked that I didn't want to just ignore them and move on.

Getting another sample was around $150 for a single hoodie, which definitely hurt, especially for such a small adjustment, but this was going to be the first Isekaid product and I didn't want to start the brand by accepting something I already knew I wasn't completely happy with.

So I made the changes, resized the back kanji, fixed the zipper placement, ordered another sample, and eventually got the version I felt comfortable moving forward with.

Seeing the corrected hoodie in person was probably one of the first times where Isekaid really started feeling like an actual clothing brand instead of just a bunch of ideas and drawings on my iPad.

Looking Back at the Corp Hoodie

There are obviously things I would change now, which I think is pretty normal considering this was literally the first garment I ever made.

For example, I would probably change the sizing of the two designs on the front, and I definitely would have added pockets. I also didn't fully understand how the materials were going to behave after washing yet, so the hoodie ended up shrinking more than I would want today, the cotton fleece could become noticeably stiffer, and the appliqué could get pretty wrinkled along with the rest of the garment.

Those are all things I understand much better now, and they're details that I pay way more attention to when I'm working on newer pieces.

At the same time, I don't really look back at the Corp hoodie negatively because I still think there was a lot I got right, especially considering it was my first product. It was made from 460 GSM cotton fleece, had a custom oversized fit, used satin-stitch appliqué instead of relying on basic printed graphics, and most importantly, it actually felt like the type of clothing I wanted Isekaid to make.

If anything, making this hoodie taught me that designing something that looks good in a sketch is completely different from designing a garment that works when someone actually wears it. You have to think about how the fabric behaves, how it washes, how designs sit on the body, how large certain details should be, where they should be placed, what features the garment needs, and a million other things that aren't obvious when you're looking at a flat drawing.

I've learned a lot more about all of that since Drop 001, which is also why I don't think I'm completely finished with this hoodie yet.

Corp 2.0

Eventually, I want to make a Corp Zip-Up Hoodie 2.0.

It's not because I think the original was a failure or because I want to completely replace it. I actually still really like the concept, and even now, looking back at the original idea that made me want to create it in the first place, I still think it has the potential to be an amazing hoodie.

The main difference is that I know way more now than I did when I made version one.

There are things I would change about the proportions, construction, functionality, fabric behavior, and plenty of smaller details that I probably wouldn't have even thought about when I was making the original. Whenever I eventually come back to it, I want to keep what made the first Corp hoodie special while rebuilding everything else with what I've learned since then.

Until that happens, though, the original Corp Zip-Up Hoodie will always have its own place in Isekaid's history. Out of all the designs I was making when the brand was still just an idea, this was the one I trusted enough to actually turn into something real.

And ultimately, it became the hoodie that started Isekaid Apparel.