Interview with Taro Hanabusa Designer of Mold Jewelry Brand fangophilia

We recently stopped by The Well in Downtown LA for a special pop-up shop event featuring Taro Hanabusa of mold jewelry brand fangophilia and Takeru, vocalist of SuG and designer of million dollar orchestrA. We were lucky enough to interview Taro about his brand and some of the history behind it and what he hopes to accomplish in the future!

fangophilia is a custom mold brand that was created by Taro Hanabusa in 2012. It features mainly teeth and finger pieces created in silver, but more elaborate pieces can be made to the customer's specifications. Each piece is created using a custom mold process that ensures that each is unique to its owner and is hand-crafted by Taro himself. His brand has proven to be quite popular overseas with pop-ups in many countries like Singapore, Thailand, and the US and can be spotted on celebrities such as G-Dragon, CL, as well as many others.


A-To-J: Hi! Thank you for this interview! Let's jump right into this. We understand that you were a dentist before?
Taro: Yes, I am a dentist.

A-To-J: How did you go from being a dentist to designing custom mold jewelry?
Taro: When I was working as a dentist I usually made molds of patient's teeth. So, my jewelry design is very similar to my dentistry work, except that I'm making  custom body jewelry. I started my brand about four years ago with this idea in mind.

A-To-J: So you're still a practicing dentist?
Taro: Yes, but now I don't have enough time to do dentistry work. So now I only work one or two days a week as a dentist. The other days I make jewelry.

A-To-J: What is the inspiration behind the name “fangophilia”
Taro: About four years ago I started my brand. At that time I was making on teeth jewelry pieces and I was often making fangs. So the brand name came from that.

A-To-J: Do you mind explaining the vision and concept design behind “fangophilia”?
Taro: I've liked body modification for a long time, like piercings and tattoos. I think my jewelry design is a kind of body modification, especially things like the pointed ear and  teeth pieces. So my brand concept is kind is sort of like body modification.

A-To-J: I heard a quote from you that stated the way you make your silver pieces is not currently being done by any other designer. Can you explain to us a little  bit about what that method entails and how you physically create your products?
Taro: Most of my jewelry is custom made by making molds of the customer's body parts. So for example if the customer wants custom teeth, I'll make a custom plaster  model of the customer's teeth and use that to make the piece. So my jewelry is individually made by hand each time. Last time I came to the US I came to LA  and New York and stayed about one month. During that time I got about eighty orders and had to make and take back so many plaster models!

A-To-J: About how long does it take to make each piece?
Taro: It depends on the size and design. To make the seventy or eighty pieces that I just mentioned I needed more than one month to make that amount. So when I'm in Tokyo I'm making jewelry  every day. It's so hard! (Laughs)

A-To-J: You make a lot of teeth pieces, which are relatively small, but do you also make pieces that are larger and take more time to make?
Taro: Yes I do. Sometimes the customer orders teeth, finger, or ear jewelry, but other times they order face masks or big pieces like the entire neck or clavicle  area. My biggest order was a whole hand. All silver! It was a really big order! (Laughs)

Custom hand piece

Custom face pieces

A-To-J: What’s the biggest challenge you face in creating these types custom mold jewelry pieces?
Taro: It's hard to make the big pieces since they take more planning and time. I plan to make a lot more full face masks and other big pieces again though in the future.

A-To-J: What is the greatest compliment you’ve received on your pieces?
Taro: My jewelry is kind of a "strange" style of jewelry. Many famous artists are interested in my jewelry though, like Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson and KPop stars  like CL and G-Dragon and others. Them liking my work is the biggest compliment I get.

A-To-J: I understand that “fangophilia” was launched in 2012 - what are the main differences between it’s inception and today?
Taro: When I started my brand no one knew it and my style is very different from "normal" jewelry, so for about one year it was not doing so good. After that year  though my brand became famous little by little. Now I go to many foreign countries to take orders. I'm going to Europe in the Fall and New York in November. So the difference is that now I go to many foreign countries to get orders made. It'll be my first time in Europe too this fall, so I'm very excited.

A-To-J: Where do you see the brand in ten years?
Taro: I'm not really sure, but I know that I want to make bigger and bigger pieces. Like a whole body piece or something like that!

A-To-J: Is there a reason you work mainly in silver?
Taro: My pieces are mainly in silver, but sometimes customers order pieces in gold, but gold is so expensive.

A-To-J: Is there any other brand or person who you would like to do a collaboration with in the future?
Taro: This time I did a collaboration with Takeru (of SuG) to make this finger ring. Besides that I have some silver jewelry designer friends and I sometimes  collaborate with them.

A-To-J: I saw an article that Korean Pop singer, CL, and the American artist, Nicki Minaj, are fans of your work. Have you made any other interesting connections while traveling with your brand?
Taro: I met Marilyn Mason about five or six times and now I think I'm almost friends with him. When I saw him last fall I got a tattoo from him! (Laughs)

A-To-J: I heard that you were just in New York for a pop-up shop as well, how did that go?
Taro: Yes I did a pop-up shop in New York last month. It was a very good turnout.

A-To-J: Did you learn anything from that experience?
Taro: Well, my English is not so good, but most of my customers are foreigners so now I need to learn more English! (Laughs)

A-To-J: Did you experience any culture shock with your American customers as compared to your native Japanese clients?
Taro: I don't really have Japanese customers...so I think 95% of my customers are foreign people. Only 5% of my customers are Japanese. So there isn't that much to compare them too!

A-To-J: What are you looking forward to most with this event in Los Angeles?
Taro: Now I have many friends in Los Angeles, so for me Los Angeles is very fun! (Laughs)

A-To-J: Can you tell us about the special collaboration piece you brought to this event that was designed with Takeru of SuG and million dollar orchestrA?
Taro: At first Takeru called me about the collaboration and after this he drew the design out and sent it to me. I made the shape of it after that based on his original design.

Taro with Takeru of SuG and million dollar orchestrA

fangophilia x million dollar orchestrA collaboration piece

A-To-J: Who is the model for the finger?
Taro: This is actually a standard size and not based on either me or Takeru! (Laughs)

A-To-J: To follow up with that, is there a piece or pieces that are your favorite from today’s showcase? Why?
Taro: My favorite pieces are always the biggest ones. The face mask and whole hand are my favorites from these. Most customers don't order big pieces though. Most of them  want teeth, ear, or fingers because they're easy to wear. No one really walks around wearing the face pieces, these are mainly show pieces for photos and  such. I want to make more pieces like that though in the future.

A-To-J: If there is one thing that you would like your American fans to walk away with understanding about “fangophilia” today, what would that be?
Taro: If the people are interested in my jewelry I want them to come to my events and feel free to have fun! (Laughs)

A-To-J: What have you learned with your international showcase that you started in March of this year, going to Singapore, New York, and finally Los  Angeles?
Taro: LA I think is the best place for me because I have so many customers in Los Angeles. I also have many customers in Thailand and Singapore, but I have never  been to Europe. I think I have many customers in Europe, like in the UK and Paris, so I'm very excited to go to Europe!

A-To-J: I understand that most of your business comes from abroad, what’s your method for successfully reaching these international audiences?
Taro: For me social networking is very important. For me Instagram is the best tool to connect with my foreign fans because anyone can see it. It's very important  to me.

A-To-J: What are the future plans or projects that you have in mind for “fangophilia”?
Taro: Now this year I will go to many countries to take orders, but now that I have so many orders every month I don't have times to make new pieces, like samples.  So when I have more time I want to make more samples that are big pieces! (Laughs)

A-To-J: Do you have any special messages for your American fans?
Taro: Do you really think I have fans?

A-To-J: Yes! Of course you do!
Taro: Message...I come to LA often, but I want to go to other cities besides LA. So if there is someone who wants to order big pieces I can go to other cities, so  if there are people who want to order please contact me!

A-To-J: Thank you very much for your time!

To learn more about fangophilia please visit:
Website: http://www.fangophilia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fangophilia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fangophilia/

The above interview was conducted by Manuel Figueroa with on-site and post translation by Christina Aoun. All photos by Manuel Figueroa.