I am often asked, why natural dyes? The simple answer is that I started with natural dyes and have not moved on from it. The longer answer would be that, I often remember what my father, who was a natural dye teacher, told me, “Natural dye dyers want to get closer to the ground.” What he meant was that, at the beginning, you may start with extracts you buy from a store. But soon you will start wondering if you could use dry raw material. Then, fresh raw material. And then, you start wondering if you could grow the material yourself. Thus, it seems almost inevitable that a dyer will want to get closer to the ground. This rootedness, this warm allure to get closer to the earth, to the soil, is very reassuring to me.

My Inspirations

One of the most memorable things we did when I was growing up was to visit Mayan ruins with my father. He would teach us how to read Mayan hieroglyphs and explain the fascinating culture of Maya (ancient and contemporary). These trips undoubtedly influenced my aesthetics. Another influence was Japanese aesthetics, traditional and modern. The cleanliness of design, its relentless simplification, and its wab-sabi sentiment. These influences are so fundamental to me that I cannot begin to untangle and pin point them.
And my father, Hideo Kojima, was a great inspiration and a guide for me on so many things, including natural dyes.

I was born and raised in Guatemala. My parents, who are Japanese, met in Guatemala in the 60’s and they still live there. Back then, it was rare for a young artist/designer to leave Japan, but it was rarer still for a single woman in her twenties to go out of Japan. Even today the resistance younger Japanese people seem to feel about going out of Japan, let alone moving out altogether, is surprising. So, you might say that the two black sheep that were my parents, met in Guatemala and raised a family of black sheep.

My father, amongst many things he did, was a natural dye researcher. Us kids were allowed to do batik and my father would dye it for us.

Recently, I dyed a shirt for a friend as a payment for his photography service (we artists brimming with creativity, but short in funds do a lot of bartering). He LOVED the shirt and kept on egging me on to make more and do it more seriously. After several great successes in live events, I decided that it might be time to dive into the online world to offer what I have.

Why choose our apparel?

01.

You won’t find this type of apparel anywhere else. For a good a reason. They are incredibly time-consuming and labor-intensive. Each piece is hand-made and unique, no two are alike.

02.

I try to make my designs unique. Fortunately, my unusual background gives me a peek into fusing very different design elements and traditions.

03.

You will stand out because of the apparel, but, not in a gaudy, loud, or in-your-face way. But, rather in a warm, unique, authentic, and down-to-earth way.

04.

These apparel are closer to art pieces for me than just a hand-crafted shirts. And the price reflects that.

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