We designed hand-dyed and woven Kurume Kasuri fabric covered notebooks for Union Made in San Francisco. These special edition notebooks were included in an exhibit showing how Kurume Kasuri fabric is made at the Shibuya Postalco shop.

UNIONMADE

Based in San Francisco, Unionmade is known for their outstanding selection of men's casual and fine clothing, shoes, new and used books, and men's grooming products. The name "Unionmade" was conceived around the notion of well-made and aesthetically classic goods. It also conveys what we they are about: collaborating, uniting and making things together.

Kurume Kasuri

200 years ago during the Edo period a 12 year old girl named Den Inoue noticed a white dot on her kimono fabric. Unravelling the threads to get a better look she realized that two of the crossing threads were not dyed, creating a white spot. After much experimenting she discovered that wrapping threads before dying them was a new way of making patterned fabric. This traditional Japanese technique, which spread all over the continent, all began with her small observation. Today there are still a number of fabric weavers continuing the traditional handmade process of Kurume Kasuri.