Concept

Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn, by Hoitsu Sakai (Tokyo National Museum)
Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn, by Hoitsu Sakai (Tokyo National Museum)

In Praise of Shadows
—Sensing Wabi Sabi
in the Subtle Shades of Foil

In 2015, we launched a project to commercialise products featuring the exquisite hakuashi pattern. We began by making zori sandals using gold foil. Only 0.0001 mm thick, the foil tore easily, preventing us from developing a viable product. What we had created was not a practical object but a work of art.
We then sought to produce gold and silver foil leather by applying the gold foil directly onto the leather by hand. Although we succeeded in commercialising a product that appeared luxurious and opulent, opinions were divided over the way the foil naturally peeled away with continued use. We then set out to create leather with a hakuashi pattern that would remain unchanged over time. Upon discovering the technique called gravure roll printing, we were able to develop an original leather material that faithfully reproduces the hakuashi pattern on genuine leather.

Story

Rimpa School’s Gold and Silver Background Patterns
on Genuine Leather to Exude Japanese Modern Elegance

Gold and silver foil evoke a refined ambience. Folding screens once served as furnishings that illuminated dimly lit rooms with reflected light. With time, the overlapping layers of gold foil, known as hakuashi, would weather, peel, and decay, revealing an ever-evolving patina of aged beauty.
Through conversations with a foil craft artist, we have come to appreciate the beauty of the hakuashi pattern. More than the motifs of Rimpa artworks, it is the subtle background patterns that now captivate us.
Before the Meiji era, when gas and electric lights became common, interiors were lit only by candles and lanterns.
Imagine the flickering glow in the darkness—the majestic simmer of the gold foil catching the moonlight or the last hues of twilight. This vision reflects a profound appreciation for shadow and subtle beauty —one of the fundamental elements of the Japanese aesthetic.

Craftsmanship

Gold and Silver Foil Pressed on Leather and Gravure Roll Printing

This gold and silver foil-pressed leather series is both a work of art and a practical product, made using a technique whereby craftsmen apply the gold and silver foil directly onto genuine leather by hand to recreate the hakuashi pattern. As a diffusion line of this product, we successfully reproduced the Rimpa Silver Leather series using the gravure roll printing method.
Gravure roll printing is a technique for engraving a pattern onto a rolled cylinder, with dye poured into the grooves to transfer the pattern onto the material. While widely used in the kimono industry as a dyeing method for yukata and tenugui hand towels, the concept of roll printing on genuine leather was previously unheard of.