Located a 10-minute walk from Motoyama Station on the Higashiyama Subway Line, walking north on Nekogahora Dori, "Toi Designs" is a store that mainly deals with square garments by "toi designs," which creates and designs "clothes you want to wear for 100 years.

"Toi designs" is a clothing brand that was born in 2015. At that time, it mainly opened shops in craft markets as a "traveling clothing store" with an atelier near Higashiyama Park.

After that, in 2017, there was also a meeting with the property, and it opened in the Nekogahora Center Building as a shop and atelier. At "Toi designs", 90% of the items are clothes made by "toi designs", and the rest are organic products.

What is Toi Designs

The interior of the store is an open space with a high ceiling. The clothes made from plants and the texture of the concrete match, creating a warm and comfortable space.

Nekogahora Center Building was once used as a fruit and vegetable market. If you look at the floor, you can also see the traces of filling the waterway.

Toi designs clothes

This time, I asked Ms. Tomomi Kato, the owner of the shop who is in charge of product planning and development, about the features and appeal of "toi designs."

– What kind of square clothes are made by “toi designs”?

Tomomi Kato (hereinafter referred to as Tomi): “It is a garment that is made like origami by reducing the number of curved cuts in the fabric. Simply put, it is similar to Japanese clothing.

It's easy to understand if you imagine traditional clothes, but there are many curves, including around the neck and shoulders. The fact that there are many curves means that the unusable parts will be thrown away as garbage.

By creating square clothes, you can make full use of the fabric. When I come up with a design, I think about it while actually cutting and pasting paper. ”

Mojiri sleeve T-shirt ¥7,800 (excluding tax) ~

Tomi: “For example, it might be easier to understand if you look at the popular Mojiri-sleeve T-shirt.

Compared to Western T-shirts, it has plenty of sleeves. The T-shirt was born from the idea of not wasting fabric, but our customers are familiar with it as one of the designs. ”

– From the production stage of the clothes, you are careful not to use unnecessary fabrics.

Tomi: "I also have a sense of crisis about waste in the fashion industry. It is said that 1 million tons or approximately 3.3 billion garments are discarded annually. We are following trends so much that we have become accustomed to the routine of throwing away large quantities of clothes that are no longer useful.

If we go back to the source, there must be a lot of wasted fabric from the production of clothes. We believe that we need to rethink our fundamental approach to fashion.

We incorporate square garments into our production as an efficient way to avoid wasting fabric."

Patchwork shirt ¥17,800 (excluding tax) ~

– It's amazing that square clothes don't waste anything.

Tomi: "But it's not like there's no waste in the production process. Even if we minimize waste, we use the remnants that come out unavoidably in other ways.

The scraps are sewn together to make a single piece of cloth, which is reborn as a different product. ”

Towapojagi curtains, furoshiki, and other items available in 4 sizes Furoshiki ¥6,800 (excluding tax) Curtains ¥9,800 and up

Sarumata Hakama ¥18,000 (excluding tax) and up

– Please tell us about other things you are working on besides square clothes.

Tomi: "Of course we produce square garments, but the part that regenerates and circulates them afterwards is important. For example, the garments we carry, including the sarumata hakama shown in the photo, are maintained through re-dyeing, and mending."

Tomi: “If you use it for a long time, the fabric will soften and the color will fade and the texture will come out, but at the same time, it can also give you a tired look.
By re-dyeing, the clothes will be colored, and the combination of plant-based cloth and natural dyes will strengthen the cloth. And you can enjoy your clothes even more by dyeing your favorite items. ”

tomi: "We use natural materials such as astringent persimmons and red bengara for the dyes, and the craftsmen carefully dye each item. By not using chemicals, we think that we want to create clothing that circulates and returns to the soil in the end. "

A hand-knitted sweater made from hand-spun sheep's wool grown in the mountains of northern India. A friend who lives in India delivers it every year. Very warm and durable!

The store also sells items selected from around the world.