Suzusan

SHIBORI is a Japanese textile finishing technique which, even though it can look back on a tradition spanning centuries at the island state, is virtually unknown in the Western world. Master Hiroshi Murase, director of Suzusan, is practising this craftwork in the 4th Generation already. His small arts and crafts business in Arimatsu/Japan finishes textiles and fibres in lavish craft work, using the Shibori technique. Based on Murase‘s ideas, three-dimensional patterns, exciting contrasts or soft fluid colour transitions are created on select fabrics. All fabrics by Suzusan feature playfully light-weight materials and colourful designs. They spread a magic which does not just excite textile lovers. Come and enter the new world of textile design! Hiroshi Murase has been living the art of Shibori for more than 40 years. His passion and his quest for perfection are the motivating forces for his craft – thus he and Suzusan vouch for the quality of the products, which are purchased by fashion designers, interior architects and furniture designers. Internationally renowned designers and labels such as Junya Watanabe, Calvin Klein, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto have already discovered for themselves the variety of Suzusan fabrics. In early 2008, Murase‘s son - Hiroyuki Murase - opened the Suzusan Showroom in Düsseldorf, Germany‘s fashion capital. This is the family business‘ first step towards further opening its business relations to the international market and thereby spreading the knowledge of the Shibori craftwork and the Suzusan fabrics beyond the confines of Japan. Through a Fair Trade Concept, Suzusan strives to provide the producing craftsmen with a share of the price premium, strengthen the craftwork as a profession, and contribute toward putting an end to the decades-long decline of this textile art in Arimatsu and Narumi. With the products Suzusan Fabrics, Suzusan Accessories and Suzusan Luminaires for fashion and furniture designers, interior architects, resellers and others, Suzusan is creating a portfolio which successfully combines historically grown tradition and modern design and which in this form is one of a kind in Europe. „Wring, press and twist“ - this is the English translation of the Japanese verb SHIBORU. Three words which together describe the main characteristics of the Japanese textile finishing technique Shibori. In Shibori, certain parts of the textile surface are folded in a special way, tied off or taken in, whereby parts of the surface are reserved. Through these well thought out manipulations of the carrier material, fluid colour transitions, but also three-dimensional patters, structures and colour contrasts occur when dyeing raw fabrics. Softly subsiding contour and softly flowing colour transitions which result in a rhythmically structured surface structure, are characteristic of materials that were adorned with this technique. Originally the Shibori technique was applied to silk and wool fabrics as well as plant fibres such as cotton and flax. Over the course of the past decades, Japanese craftsmen have started to also treat chemically produced fibres, for example polyester and nylon, as well as leather and metals. Over the centuries, a variety of different techniques were developed within the Shibori craft in Arimatsu and Narumi, which quite often only differed in nuances from another. One particular aspect is that no two craftsmen reserve the same material in the same fashion and as such the products always feature the respective artisan‘s „signature“. This way a multitude of textile designs with highly individualised characteristics is created within a time-honoured traditional framework, fascinating time and again through their high quality.