Concept

 

 

My grandmother Satoko used to wear nothing but Kimonos, but at this stage in her life, she does not find much use for them anymore.  Luckily, she has hung on to many of them.  When I first came arcoss her Kimono collection, I was so amazed by their quality and beauty, that I immediately thought something should be done with the extra fabric normally used to mend them.  The idea struck me to create fashion accessories using silk and cotton Kimonos fabric, something modern and stylish with a touch of traditional Japanese aesthetics.

 

In contemporary Japan, people wear Kimonos mostly for special occasions.  Traditional Kimonos are expensive because of their beautifully dyed materials. Nowadays, these hand woven Kimonos are disappearing due to the lack of talented artisans still producing them.  Yet, there is a growing interest in re-using and recycling the old Kimono fabrics rather than producing new ones.

 

All my products are made with 35 cm wide strips of high quality textured, colored, and dyed Kimono fabric.  The rarity of the material means that each one is absolutely unique.