As Cool as Cool Can Get: The Present and Future of Gamma Player

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Yesterday, scanning the inbox, we saw Gamma Player is up and running again and had some big news to share. We head downtown to their artistically minimal office shared with Axis Records, where we catch up with owner, Yoko Uozumi. Yoko introduces us to the first Gamma Player branded product in a well-paced series of items to enhance the fashionable intellectual's lifestyle: Sunglasses.

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Yoko opens the glass case containing four pairs of sunglasses and explains that there were five pairs but the yellow has sold out after only hours of becoming available. Yoko says, "Jeff (Mills) and I announced on our Facebook page yesterday that they are here and we are having shipments from Michigan and Germany, Denmark, and France. We would like to do, is presenting very basics, but still very simple and sophisticated. This sunglass represents our idea very well- so we are very happy."

There are only about two dozen pairs of each, all classic Wellington style in five colors (black, clear, translucent cherry red, evergreen, and camel). Yoko is pleased working with Italian manufacturer because of the quality of the lens he uses and how lightweight the frames are. The gradient lenses chosen are 3-1 filter category and the cleaning cloth is a miniature composition sheet of the first page of the symphonic translation of Jeff's world-known composition of Gamma Player. Feeling the softness in the environment of the store, hearing the music in our heads, the cloth polishing those Italian menisci, an inspirational acknowledgement runs through our body that warms us.

Waxing on the conceptual nature of Gamma Player, we ask what Yoko where she is in her life journey after the closure of her boutique on Division. "We still have our place is Paris, and I love it very much there, I also love Chicago but it would be nice to have both places." Yoko goes on, "I think about Chicago, and I am wondering how it is different from Paris, or even Tokyo- there are concentrations of people and we have very loyal followers in these places, for now we will keep this space (the Office on Wabash) and stay in Chicago."

Asking Yoko where she and Jeff Mills see the future of the Gamma Player as a brand, she adjusts her sweater and describes a leather jacket. " We are working on it now, and it is not like things you've seen at Gamma Player before. It is important that all of our products are unisex and we will expand naturally, only focusing on one or two items per season. Maybe next it will be a bag or a shirt and then trousers. We'll see. The jacket is coming for the fall/winter and will be a simple design basic. We are only making it in small quantities for those who know us and understand- and that is okay with us."
· Gamma Player [Official Site]
· Axis Records [Official Site]