Y. & SONS × Graphpaper
Starting with the 2019 spring/summer season. We have been working together with Graphpaper, which proposes a high-quality wardrobe for adults that always remains the standard of the times, and us Y. & SONS, which proposes an extraordinary way to wear kimonos in everyday life, to create a new type of kimono.
In the summer of 2018, Graphpaper’s Creative Director Takayuki Minami approached us to visit Graphpaper’s exhibition. Through various discussions about each other’s spirituality and craftsmanship, we decided to create a kimono that utilizes the characteristics of each of us.
At the start of the project, we visited Sanchi(production area) in Katakai with the Graphpaper team led by Mr. Minami to introduce Y. & SONS’ manufacturing.
Based on the design of the buttoned beach yukata we had released in 2017 with the aim of making it easy for everyone to wear, we incorporated details from Graphpaper’s chef pants, and so the new form of kimono that can be worn without an obi belt was born.
The front of the kimono fastens with a button, and an elastic belt used for Graphpaper’s chef pants is attached in place of the obi. The elastic belt’s Velcro and elastic allow the fit to be freely adjusted, and the buttons on either side prevent the kimono from falling apart.
Kimono
For the Spring/Summer 2019 season, the first Kimono are produced using Graphpaper’s original wool gabardine fabric, carefully woven on an old-style shuttle machine.
Subsequently, the fabric is produced using a variety of fabrics each season. It includs stretch kerzey fabric with elasticity, linen cupro fabric that’s easy to wear in summer, and hard flannel fabric that is less likely to wrinlke due to its moderate firmness.
Haori
Starting with the 2022 fall/winter season, haori was introduced in addition to kimonos, allowing for a wide range of styling options.
Fleece fabrics featuring lightweight comfort and warmth made of 100% virgin wool, and dark black colored satin woven doeskin fabrics, which aim to be “darker than black” by increasing the dyeing time, were introduced as haori.
Set-up
Y. & SONS offers a set-up style of haori and pants in the same fabric in the aim of wearing kimonos into modern life.
For the spring/summer 2024 season, we have special ordered chef pants, the cornerstone of the collaboration, which can be worn as a set-up.
Two types of silhouettes are being released: a slimmer version of the classic chef pants and a wider silhouette.
For the fall/winter 2024 season, following the spring/summer 2024 season, we have released three types of set-ups, which can be proposed according to the season when they are worn.
Inners
Henley-neck T-shirts
Traditionally there is a kimono innerwear called “naga-juban”, but we have developed henley-neck T-shirts together as a more casual and familiar innerwear for kimono.
For the 2019 Spring/Summer season, we released henley-neck T-shirts made on a traditional Japanese hang knitting machine in two colors, black and white. Soon grey has joined in the color variations.
The double pockets on the chest are designed to hold a wallet or cell phone when wearing a yukata, which originally had no so-called pockets.
For the spring/summer 2024 season, we have changed the material and released a fraise knitted henley-neck T-shirt made of American Sea Island cotton.
It has a silky sheen, and the high oil content in the fiber makes it soft and smooth to wear, with excellent water absorbency, making it the ultimate innerwear for year-round use.
Turtleneck T-shirt
In the fall/winter 2022 season, we released black turtleneck T-shirts made of washable wool, a Graphpaper fall/winter season staple, and the following year we released a new color, gray.
It is made of extra fine merino, the finest of all wools, with a shrink-proof finish, washable in water, and resistant to shedding after wear.
Suteteko Pants inners
In love with the texture and feel of American Sea Island cotton, we produced Suteteko following our new born henley-neck T-shirts. Suteteko prevent direct skin contact and protect kimonos and yukatas from sweat and other stains.
Moreover, American Sea Island cotton is resistant to static electricity and comfortable to walk on.
Coats
For the fall/winter 2023 season, we have released a coat that can be worn over a kimono, for the first time during this collaboration.
To ensure that the coat can be worn comfortably with a kimono, we carefully adjusted the shoulder ridges and the curves of the sleeve seams, and completed the product after many meetings.
The silhouette is smooth to the touch and has a sense of ease thanks to the use of Supima cotton, whose fibers are long and fine.
The balmacaan coat released for the fall/winter 2024 season has a dry-touch, durable, firm-textured fabric, characterized by the distortion, wrinkles, fraying, and bite created in the fabric by shrinking the fabric from its finished state.
In addition, the soutien collar coat is made of double-melton fabric that has been brushed to give it a soft texture and warmth.
A shoulder strap is attached to the inside so that the coat can be carried over the shoulder and does not get in the way when the coat is taken off.
