PRODUCER’S VOICE

SCARF BY KAMAWANU is a brand created as part of the overseas strategy of Kamawanu, a manufacturer of tenugui towels. The scarves are designed by the internationally acclaimed Thomas Lykke (OeO Design Studio), who is based in Denmark and has experience working with distinguished, long-established, Japanese manufacturers. It is difficult to convey the functionality of tenugui towels ( which Japanese people are familiar with), in Europe where there is no tenugui culture. To overcome this difference in cultures, we doubled the length of tenugui towels and created tenugui scarves for the European market where nights can be much colder than during the day. One characteristic feature of the scarves is that they are hand-dyed using a unique Japanese technique called chusen, which creates the same beautiful pattern on the front and back. Although items imported from Japan tend to be expensive, there is great potential for the tenugui scarves to take root there as beautiful yet functional accessories, since scarves are used on a daily basis in Europe. With SCARF BY KAMAWANU, I want to set the stage for people overseas to enjoy traditional Japanese crafts in their everyday lives.