Toru
The Story
Itoasobi was established in 1935 in Tango, Kyoto, one of the centers of silk fabric production in Japan. The Yamamoto family moved to the Yosano region not long after a carpenter relative built the area’s Fukada Shrine. Carpenters tend to best understand the structure of looms and how to repair and improve them, and during that period, many carpenters throughout Japan changed their trade to weaving. In this spirit, one Yamamoto son, Tomozo, started weaving Tango chirimen fabric. As chirimen got popular, their business grew. The family later began to manufacture in-house products so as to avoid the fluctuating uncertainty of suppliers. Around the time, the white fabric of Tango chirimen was changed to yarn-dyed, creating Ito Asobi ribbon weave.
After a decade working for apparel-related companies in Nagoya and Tokyo, the current headmaster Toru returned to Tango and took charge of Ito Asobi. While in junior high school, he had the opportunity to visit Europe, which made him realize that if he were to take over the family business in the future, he wanted to work in a place like Tango, with its abundant nature and seasonal foods.
Toru’s most notable strength is his understanding for the feeling of designers who seek fabrics that have never yet existed. He has expanded his versatility of technique and knowledge by creating these new fabrics himself. He can also cater to the needs of interior designers and of foreign brands by choosing the best machine and speed for each yarn. In addition to clothing, Ito Asobi also makes scarves, stoles, interior decorations, and more recently, kimono. Eighty percent of this work is sold domestically, and twenty percent overseas.
Ito Asobi’s current mission is to transmit its work to the world, creating ribbon weaves that are sought after overseas. In the age of the Internet, it is important to be seen abroad in order to gain customer trust. And in participating in well-known international exhibitions, Japanese companies will also take notice. Thus spreading the word about Japan’s textile industry will help to preserve Tango as an area of production. As this also entails getting local children interested in textiles from new perspectives (including an international ones), Toru began passing down his weaving skills to his own son.
The Craft
Ito asobi sticks to natural fibers and silk and manages a consistent structure from dyeing to weaving. The latter involves various techniques such as hand weaving, Jacquard weaving, leno weaving, and dobby weaving, with their hand-dyed yarn being made at the studio.
Not being bound by traditional techniques frees Ito Asobi to take on new challenges, most significantly in inventing a ribbon weave that had never existed before. No other company, even overseas, could weave a ribbon in the warp and weft. Ribbons were only used for the weft, but Ito Asobi dared to fold them as warp, which is difficult to perform without the silk being twisted or crushed. Using this silk ribbon for the warp and weft allowed them to weave an original fabric called a “silk ribbon weave.” They are currently developing products using new ribbons woven with brass, copper, and other metallic fibers.
Selected works
