Cherry blossoms blooming on leather

Cherry blossom dyeing

The branches used for Sakurazome are taken just before the flowers bloom, just before spring. No chemical dyes are used. Instead, pruned twigs, mainly from wild cherry trees and Yoshino cherry trees, are collected and dyed one by one carefully by hand or with a drum using the red dye extracted by boiling down the brown bark of the cherry trees. Environmentally friendly tanned leather and other materials are dyed with drum dyeing or brush dyeing, resulting in a soft texture and gentle colors.

The color of the cherry blossom changes depending on the part of the tree.

Pink is not the only pigment contained in cherry trees. It also contains a variety of colors, including yellow, beige, and gray. To dye with plants, a "mordant" is required to fix the color with a metallic (silver ion) component. The color of the dye changes depending on the nature of the metal used as the mordant and the part of the cherry tree used. Using parts close to the flowers, such as twigs and buds, will produce a "cherry blossom color," using the bark will produce a beige-orange "flower and leaf color," and using the core material inside the bark or early summer leaves will produce a yellowish "pale yellow" color.

Line up

The knowledge and experience of dyers who create the cherry blossom color

In order to infuse the cherry blossom color into the leather, we carefully select materials that contain the pigment, and when extracting the dye liquid, we repeat the process many times and let it sit for about a week.
The dyer's experience and knowledge, his passion for color, and his love for dyeing bring a natural, gentle cherry blossom color to the leather.

Dye it in cherry blossom color

When you get the twigs before they bloom, chop them finely that same day and extract the pigment. Add chopped twigs and bark chips, water, and a small amount of rice vinegar, bring to a boil, and after about 120 minutes, strain it through a cloth and extract the decoction 3 to 4 more times. If you leave the extracted decoction for about a week, it will oxidize and become more reddish. Since the pigment is water-soluble, a mordant is required to fix it to the leather. After applying a mordant containing aluminum to dye it from yellow to cherry pink, copper for brown, and iron for gray, place the leather in the boiling decoction and allow it to soak in the decoction.

Dyeing

Masato Komuro

Born in Fukuoka in 1983, he lives in Tokyo. He moved to Akizuki, Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture, where he was exposed to plant dyeing at his family's plant dyeing studio (Kobo Yumezaiku). He majored in dyeing and weaving at the Department of Crafts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. While studying traditional techniques, he also explored new technical expressions such as plant dyeing leather. In 2007, he introduced whole garment knitting and mastered the techniques. In 2008, he started his own knitwear brand, "MAITO". In 2010, he established Might Design Works Co., Ltd. In the same year, he opened a directly managed store at 2k540 in Ueno, Taito Ward, Tokyo. In 2012, he opened an atelier shop in Kuramae, Taito Ward, Tokyo.

Botanical Leather®

Unlike plant dyeing, which uses chemical dyes, Botanical Leather® is dyed using only natural dyes made from plants, without the use of chemical dyes. This is why it is characterized by its unique, gentle colors that are kind to the environment and people. Plant dyeing, which produces colors that are full of life, is a complex combination of various factors such as the concentration of the dye, the temperature difference between inside and outside the workshop, the dyeing time, and the way the leather is moved, so even if it is dyed with the same dye, the color will be different. In addition, the plants and trees that are the raw materials are different even if they were cut today and two weeks later, or this year and next year. In other words, you will never encounter the same color twice. It's a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, so to speak. This is also one of the charms of plant dyeing.

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