Kyoto · Nishijin-ori · Commission Only
奏 — 着物の美術
Woven from Silence.
Worn for Eternity.
Three principles govern every thread we weave, every colour we surrender to silk.
In Japanese aesthetics, ma is the pregnant pause — the negative space that gives meaning to form. Our kimono are designed around absence as much as presence. The silence in the weave is where beauty breathes.
No two kimono we create are identical. Handwoven Nishijin-ori silk carries the fingerprint of its maker — a slight irregularity in tension here, a luminous slub there. These imperfections are the proof of human presence, and we celebrate them.
A KANADE kimono is not a garment. It is an heirloom in the making. Each commission includes archival documentation, provenance papers, and a storage consultation — so that what we create outlasts us all by generations.
Each piece exists once. When a commission is complete, its design is retired.
Winter Commission · 2024
雪の間
Yuki no Ma — The Space of Snow
Nishijin-ori · White Silk
Autumn Commission · 2024
赤の声
Aka no Koe — Voice of Red
Tango-chirimen · Lacquer Red
Spring Commission · 2023
霧の夜
Kiri no Yoru — Night of Mist
Habutae Silk · Indigo Dye
"I do not design kimono. I listen to the silk until it tells me what it wishes to become."
KANADE was founded in the alleyways of Kyoto's Nishijin district by Yukio Hashimoto, a fifth-generation weaver who apprenticed under Living National Treasure Katsura Funaki. The atelier occupies a machiya townhouse built in 1887, its wooden looms still powered by foot pedal and human patience.
We accept twelve commissions per year. Each begins with a private consultation — in Kyoto or Paris — where we discuss not garment specifications, but life: what the client wishes to carry with them, what stories the silk should hold.
From first conversation to final ceremony, nothing is rushed. Time is the medium.
Commission begins with a private consultation at our Kyoto atelier or Paris studio. We discuss the occasion, the intended wearer, the stories the kimono must carry. No forms. No briefs. Only conversation.
1–2 weeksWe source silk exclusively from Tango-chirimen weavers in Kyoto Prefecture, and natural dyes from Yoshino indigo farmers whose families have cultivated the ai plant for four centuries. The client receives a certificate of material provenance.
4–8 weeksNatural dyeing is conducted in our Kyoto facility using seasonal vats — cold indigo in winter, persimmon tannin in autumn, mountain woad in spring. Colour is never repeatable. The chromatic result is unique to the day, the season, and the hand.
3–6 weeksNishijin-ori weaving on hand-operated jacquard looms. Each loom can produce approximately 12cm of fabric per hour. A single kimono requires 12–14 metres of cloth. The weaving stage alone takes 8–16 weeks of uninterrupted work.
8–16 weeksDelivery is never by courier. The completed kimono is presented in a private ceremony at the atelier, accompanied by archival documentation, storage instructions, and a handwritten letter from the weaver. This is not the end — it is the beginning of the garment's life.
Private ceremonyThe lineage behind every KANADE commission spans empires, wars, and the slow miracle of peace.
The Hashimoto family establishes a weaving house in Kyoto's Nishijin district, three years after the quarter's looms first began producing imperial court textiles.
As the new Meiji government dismantles samurai culture, the Hashimoto atelier pivots to serve the rising merchant class, preserving traditional Nishijin techniques through radical social change.
Takeshi Hashimoto, 3rd generation, is designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs for his innovations in polychrome warp-faced weaving.
KANADE opens a private consultation studio in the Marais district of Paris — the first Japanese traditional textile atelier to establish a permanent European presence.
Yukio Hashimoto, 5th generation, announces KANADE will permanently transition to commission-only, capping annual production at twelve pieces. The waiting list opens by private referral only.
We accept twelve commissions per year. Each begins with a private conversation.
A KANADE commission is not placed — it is initiated. The form to the right is not an order form; it is an invitation to conversation. A member of the atelier will respond personally within five working days to arrange a private consultation in Kyoto or Paris.