The Business of HYPE is a new weekly series brought to you by HYPEBEAST Radio and hosted by jeffstaple. BOH focuses on streetwear entrepreneurs and the business decisions, trials and tribulations that got them where they are today.

How many people does it take to run a successful company? Well, according to fragment design founder Hiroshi Fujiwara, the answer is just three. But a dizzying network of friends and connections to myriad industries help, too. Hiroshi Fujiwara’s design empire is, in many ways, built on friendly conversations, often held at fine restaurants the world over.

And what an empire it is: beyond fragment design, Fujiwara has collaborated with just about everyone from Sony to Louis Vuitton. In the inaugural episode of Business of HYPE, Hiroshi sat down with jeffstaple for his first-ever podcast interview to help explain how he made lightning strike twice.

Check the episode in full above and be sure to check out HYPEBEAST Radio on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud and wherever else podcasts are found.

This episode’s reference links:

02:28: Undercover

02:29: Louis Vuitton

02:50: Fragment Watchband

04:15: Headporter

04:16: GoodEnough

07:19: Park-ing Ginza

07:20: Pool Aoyama

07:45: Jun Japan Corporation

12:13: Balmuda

12:37: Bonjour Records

12:48: WTaps

12:50: Vanquish

12:51 Burton

12:54 Retaw

13:29: Honeyee.com

13:33: Ring Of Colour

16:06: Kiyonaga / Soph

16:07: Hiroki Nakamura / Visvim

20:06: Sk8thing

20:52: Sacai

22:26: Starbucks

22:28: Levi’s

24;33: Nike HTM Court Force

24:36: Nike HTM Sock Dart

30:30: Hiroshi’s Hometown, Ise, Japan

32:56: A Cold Wall

33:53: StockX.com