Within the Kyoto University of the Arts, T5 (Kyoto Traditional Culture Innovation Laboratory) jump started by students is introducing a new perspective on fashion and design. Integrating Kyoto’s time honored traditions with modern twists, this project bridges the gap between old and young, as well as East and West. Hoping...
Hikizome (brush dyed textiles), translated as pull dying is a technique used as one step of the dying process to make Kimonos, a traditional Japanese garment. Requiring carefully controlled environments and steady stroke patterns to brush the dye onto the fabric, Hikizome is considered well done if the final product...
The Tsutsumi family has been specializing in the making of urushi lacquer since 1909. Takuya Tsutsumi, the successor of the business, has been rethinking the use of Japanese lacquer “urushi”. Urushi is the natural resin collected from the lacquer tree, a plant native only to Asia. Refined into a coating...
It is summer festival season in Japan. While a traditional Kimono is only worn on special occasions, Yukata are worn by all generations during this time. Recently one particular brand has caught my eye. Chikusen has been making traditional Japanese clothing since 1842 and while many of their designs are...
Japanese is a language that uses a lot of filler words—nanka, ano ne, uun, ano, sou des ka?, sou sou—small, highly inflected expressions that depend on context to girth their meaning. Sou sou is an expression that usually indicates recognition or validation: yes, yes. Sou Sou is a Kyoto-based textile...
When Rika Yajima was only 19 years old, she began to get curious about Japanese craftsmanship. She wanted to get to know the traditions of the preindustrial past, when the handmade goods were central to Japanese culture. The adults in her life – the generation above her own – were...
One of our previous posts featured a group of craftsmen that specializes in traditional indigo dyeing called Buaisou. They’ve recently collaborated with major fashion brand Tory Burch for an exclusive line for the Ginza flagship opening last week. I wish I were in Japan right now to purchase some of...
Kyoto Denim started as a Kimono manufacturer dating back to the Edo period, specifically 1688. While many of their competitors have gone out of business in the the past few decades, Kyoto denim is going strong. Toyoaki Kuwayama, the successor of this family business took the company in an unexpected...
The Japanese Nikkapokka were inspired by the “Knickerbockers” fashion movements in the early 20th century. Before World War I boys would wear knickerbockers until puberty and then transitioned to long pants. Baseball players still wear a stylized version of Knickerbockers today although they have become less baggy and many players...
Originally posted on amworkshops.com . Writing and photographs by Adam Marelli (@adammarelli). These days you don’t often see real indigo. In common use today, the dye is almost always synthetic. Producing natural indigo dyes for modern markets is time consuming and expensive. This is why denim, even high end denim, is...
Naoto Fukasawa to me is like the Dieter Rams to many designers. He is behind many of the internationally beloved MUJI products and author of Super Normal: Sensations of the Ordinary. Him and Kenya Hara both spend a lot of time thinking about how they could scale their success to...
In Japan it is still quite common to wear uniforms to school. Just like the uniform the school bag is usually a specific type called “Randoseru”. Until recently it was the norm for all boys to have a randoseru in black and for girls in red. My mother had a...
