Inertia / Momentum
Longevity / Brevity
Ancient / New
Industrial / Artisanal
Eternal / Ephemeral
Classical / Modern
Utlility / Elegance
Rising / Falling
Rustic / Luxurious
Static / Dynamic
Tradition / Innovation
Apparent / Invisible
Vapour / Liquid
Fit / Movement
Structure / Drape
Unity / Uniquness
Logic / Intuition
Slow / Rapid
Still / Accelerating
Rhythm / Melody
Workwear / Tailoring
Nature / Architectue
Design Approach
We're interested in an analogue approach to garment making, preferring the natural, the simple and the time-tested. We focus on the particular qualities of each cloth to ensure each garment maintains a good character throughout its long lifespan.
We cut our garments with plenty of ease for comfort and movement as well as allowing the cloth to relax, flow and have a life of its own. Translating traditional tailoring techniques into modern outerwear introduces traces of tailoring knowledge to increase durability, reduce bulk and retain shape over the lifespan of the garment. At the same time, moving away from the rigidity of the suit and the idea of ‘tailoring for the sake of tailoring’.
We believe that the life of the garment is in the unseen details. As Mr Jean-Claude Biver once said, "we want to master the invisible, master what people cannot see... the soul is constantly invisible."
Our design approach follows four basic principles:
1. Simplicity
"a good tailor does little cutting." - Lao Tzu
2. Longevity
"Like the sea, always old, and always new."
- From a Basque folk song
3. Lightness
"Less but better" - Dieter Rams
4. Movement
"As water flows." - Kengo Kuma
Ethos
Raw Materials
In both Italian and Japanese food, the ethos is simple; use only a few ingredients of the best quality available and focus on enhancing their natural flavours. We prefer using 100% natural cloth from high quality mills as our key ingredient. Natural fibres harness nature's technology. As a scratch in solid wood can be healed by further wear, so a pure cloth will age gracefully and slowly reveal more of its character. Cloth woven from natural fibres holds properties that have slowly evolved over millions of years. Nature's technology keeps sheep warm, dry and protected from injury. The lightness of the cotton lint allows the seeds to float on the breeze. Living materials are also naturally sympathetic and familiar to our own bodies. It is hard to ignore the calming and restorative effects of solid wood, carved stone and pure wool. According to Shinto beliefs, natural materials are charged with a living energy that we can tap into, a kind of nutrient. They age gradually and gracefully alongside us and when the time comes, biodegrade.
Simple Cutting
Like Furoshiki wrapping, the Japanese kimono tradition favours simple squares of cloth that flow over the body rather than being cut to conform to the shape of the body. The kimono sleeve is cut in an open stance to accommodate the outer limit of movement, storing that extra movement as drape. This approach provides freedom of movement, versatility of fit and a generous amount of empty space (Ma) for layering and storing things in pockets. A simple cut also allows the cloth to relax. We aim to strike a balance between an open cut full of movement and potential and an anatomical fit that follows the line of the body.
Invisible Craftsmanship
By working with the grain of nature and keeping the traces of craftsmanship discreet, a garment can retain its shape and appreciate with age, adapting to the wearer over time. Ease is giving to specific areas to train the cloth to behave in favorable ways, canvas layers float lightly inside to give added resilience and shape retention and other hidden forms of reinforcement help to maximise the lifespan of the garment. In a similar spirit, we like to keep our branding to a minimum. Our Hanko label is our maker's mark but the garment belongs to the customer.
Evolution
Garments are conceived out of the needs of a particular time and place. They then evolve in parallel alongside humans as our needs change and garments are introduced to different parts of the world. In the process new garments evolve out of older ones, some move up or down in the social order and others become extinct. The earliest forms of architecture were collapsible tent structures - pliable and portable shelters that suited the nomadic lifestyle of our ancestors. Today's outerwear can be seen as a continuation of this soft architecture tradition - a wearable form of shelter that protects us from the elements. Most of the vestigial details of today's garments can be traced back to a specific purpose that served a real need. We are interested in the evolutionary timeline of outerwear and how certain forms have come into existence. We're interested in outerwear that serves today's needs while fitting into the broader garment ecosystem that has a lineage almost as old as human history.
Floating Cloth
Though woven from many solid yarns, cloth is not a crystallised solid. It ripples in the wind and moves in waves like a liquid. Air passes through its woven structure as if it were a cloud. Only vapour displays a similar characteristic of being in a state of flux between solid, gas and liquid. We are conscious of retaining cloth's flowing liquid state, floating cloud state and sculptural solid state. We keep the construction light and use a floating rather than fused canvas which can lock up the natural flow of the cloth. By further eliminating bulk wherever possible, the cloth is free to float over the body.
Longevity Over Luxury
We are careful to consider the whole lifespan of the garment and not just its conception. This means carefully testing cloth performance and durability as well as reinforcing areas that take additional strain and using tailoring techniques to help retain shape and resilience over the life of the garment. We are interested in how a cloth responds to everyday wear and its environment. We believe that sustainability comes from designing the full lifespan of a garment. A garment that appreciates with age and lasts as long as its fibres do.