As craftspeople producing and selling clothing and accessories made of handwoven naturally dyed silk yarn clothing and accessories, they aim to create a new brand with universal appeal by focusing on contemporary design while collaborating with a new generation of artisans and carrying on Japan’s age-old dyeing and weaving techniques.

hikariwomatou

  Textile Dyeing and Fashion Design・Kyoto & Tokyo & Aichi

  • Artist's Story

    hikariwomatou ‒ “To Wear Light”

    The fashion label matohu and dyeing and weaving atelier atelier shimura present “Hikari o Matou ‒ To Wear Light,” a new brand born from their collaboration. The collection pairs atelier shimura’s plant-dyed, handwoven textiles with matohu’s contemporary designs to create essential garments that quietly embody light.


    Project Team

    matohu

    Designers. Hiroyuki Horihata, Makiko Sekiguchi 

    Founded in 2005, matohu creates new clothing grounded in a Japanese sense of beauty, translating history, aesthetics, and traditional techniques into a contemporary wardrobe. The name “matohu” means both “to lightly drape the body” and “let us wait,” expressing a commitment to enduring design over fast consumption. The brand is known for its original textiles, precise pattern-cutting, and thoughtfully chosen words.


    atelier shimura

    Founded in 2016, atelier shimura is a dyeing and weaving studio that carries forward the artistic spirit of Living National Treasure Fukumi Shimura and her daughter, Yoko. Led by Fukumi’s grandson Shoji Shimura in Sagano, Kyoto, the atelier creates kimono, obi, and accessories using natural plant dyes and handlooms, while also offering workshops that explore the culture and philosophy of dyeing and weaving.


    Nao Masaki

    Gallerist / Art Director, Gallery NAO MASAKI

    Nao Masaki opened her first gallery in Nagoya in 2005 as a place to encounter art from a “zero” state, free from preconceptions. Renamed Gallery NAO MASAKI in 2018, the gallery curates exhibitions across craft and contemporary art and pursues new ways for art to enter everyday life, while Masaki also works widely as a spatial and art director.

  • About the Craft