NUNO

Visionary Japanese Textiles

Reiko Sudo

Edited by Naomi Pollock

Thames & Hudson, London 2021, 380 pages, 610 illustrations,  27.0 x 20.5 cm,  Hardback with half-height jacket, ISBN  9780500022689

euro 63,00 *

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The first comprehensive, career-spanning monograph of NUNO, one of Japan’s most innovative and respected textile design studios.

Named with a simple word meaning ‘cloth’, NUNO is one of Japan’s most important textile-design companies. Founded in 1984 by the legendary Junichi Arai and the company’s current director, Reiko Sudo, it is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative textile producers. Known for weaving together tradition and cutting-edge technology, NUNO designers are inspired by the past, present and future, integrating unexpected elements, such as paper or feathers or aluminium, with industrial methods, such as spatter-plating and chemical etching. All NUNO textiles – more than 2,500 have been created – are produced in Japan and are usually the handiwork of an individual craftsperson. Each bolt of cloth has a story to tell.

Though their textiles appear regularly in books, textile exhibitions and museum collections, a comprehensive NUNO monograph has not existed - until now. Featuring the most outstanding, influential or experimental fabrics, the book is organized into seven chapters, each based on a theme deriving from the onomatopoeic coupling in Japanese that defines a family of fabrics. For example, ‘Shima Shima’, meaning ‘striped’, presents striped designs ranging from bold and contrasting like zebra to subtly variegated like a tabby cat. Based on interviews, archival research and factory visits, the texts are illustrated with specially commissioned photos and drawings. Interspersed are essays by a wide range of contributors, from writer Haruki Murakami and architect Toyo Ito to curator Anna Jackson.

Bringing all the threads together in a beautifully designed package, NUNO is a document of exceptional beauty and a rare glimpse into the essence of Japanese design.

22/11/21

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Komorebi Wool Scarf

Emily Crane wanted to something within the textile industry that had never been done before. She began to do this by growing her own material that would create no waste. This was in response to the masses amount of waste that the manufacturing of products produce annually. Her idea was to make this new material into fashion that would be sustainable but also be able to be produced at fast and speedy rate, much like the pace you see currently with garments produced using synthetic and man-made fibres. To create the fabric she worked with cooking ingredients such as sugars and proteins- allowing her food to be edible to the customers, supporting the no waste plan. Her product is aimed at consumers who have the ‘more stuff’ mind set, as they largely contribute to the waste issue. Crane state that “ my work is a fresh alternative to to compulsive shoppers” offering a sustainable alternative to the issue.

Helen Storey is a similar designer Emily Crane in how she is focusing in on creating new ‘intelligent’ material that can biodegrade when they are no longer needed. Helen however focuses more on combining natural fibres with synthetic and man-made such as PVA, latex and rubber. With Storey’s designs and fabrics she wants to prompt the discussion of how the environment is being deeply effected by the fashion industry in what and how they produce. Her idea with Intelligent material developed into the the object could dematerialise when it has finished its purpose. Her experiment was creating a bottle that when was empty of its contents would then shrink into a small ball. Her purpose for creating this was to develop and work with the idea that waste consumption could be reduced.

Reiko Sudo is a designer who uses a mixture of traditional and contemporary methods, that have the idea of sustainability at the base of all her work. Sudo is constantly creating new blends of fibres and creating new ways to work with fabric, along with recycling any textile waste. She has a respect for all materials and believes that they are a precious resource for any textile designer stating that all designers should do there best to minimize waste or at least use it in some form or way. Sudo experiments with acids and enzymes to help develop environmentally friendly methods as she believes that knowing her products where made by not harming the environment is extremely important. This is why Sudo uses bio gradable materials, which will break down over time that will good for both the environment and health benefits, as many of Reiko Sudo's work have fibres that help with things such as oxidation and help filter out UV light as well as keeping moisture.  

Helen Storey is another designer who looks at sustainable products. So much so that not only is her clothing that she designs is sustainable but also the packaging and the manufacturing is as well. She believes that the new generation should have a new generation of textiles, that textiles should adapt and welcome intelligent materials. Materials that will help the environment presently and for the future too. Storey looks at and experiments with the exchanges between energy and matter and from this her work will include fibres that have intelligent relationships that can sense when there no longer needed. Storey's designs aren't always made to wear but instead to provoke thought and discussion about the impact of what the fashion and textile industry are doing to the planet and to get the younger generations to understand that change needs to happen.

Design firm ifs Future Laboratory, known as “Miraiken”, has brought their explorations into the lifestyle of the future together with venerable wagashi confectioner Toraya in a collaborative project called “Yokan of the Future: Yokan to Share with Excitement.”