RIBBON KNIT ｜ EVERY WEEK
Time unrushed.
Knitting, boiling, shrinking, drying, touching, sewing.
Complex techniques, intuitive craftsmanship. And a finishing touch – ribbons, tied by hand, one by one.
RIBBON KNIT is a harmony of machines and hands. Playful, warm and soft, the new HaaT series spotlights boiled wool knit garments in shades of green, grey and black, all scattered with hand-tied ribbons.
Shaped by patience, skill and knowledge, RIBBON KNIT is a contemporary expression of Japanese craftsmanship, brought to life by experienced artisans at a knitwear factory, near the triangular form of Mount Togami in nature-rich Yamagata Prefecture.
The starting point is a dialogue – between designers and makers, paper and computer. HaaT first shares handwritten specification sheets with the factory, outlining the design – which are then transformed into finely-tuned patterns.
Next, specialist engineers program the pattern data for the knitting machine – a complex process determining the exact yarn requirements, which are input into a system controlling its movements.
Time is a key ingredient. It takes five hours to knit a single piece, with only a few garments produced a day, even when machines operate around the clock for 24 hours – a reflection of the complexity of the process.
And mid-process – a pause. After the garment bases are knitted, the machines are stopped, in order to make the ties which scatter surfaces – with artisans patiently hand-tying each one into a perfect ribbon loop.
The human touch is foundational. The creation is anchored in a sensitive synergy between machines and makers. The condition of the machine is elemental, with maintenance undertaken every morning to ensure optimum performance.
The end result is a series of garments – a top, cardigan, dress and stole – meticulously crafted and unique in atmosphere, the textile both dense and warm yet versatile, so it can easily be worn on its own, or layered under coats.
RIBBON KNIT is a series that explores the edges of craftsmanship and technology – from its complex knitting patterns right down to its signature hand-tied bows.
COLLAGE STRETCH I ｜ EVERY MONTH
Dense and dynamic, textured and crafted, soft and strong.
In shades that evoke deepening autumnal landscapes.
The series draws inspiration from regional dyeing techniques, including nui-shibori, a traditional Japanese stitch-resist method, which involves stitching fabric to create areas that resist the dye.
HaaT reimagines these techniques through weaving. A dynamic expression of contemporary craftsmanship, the garments – a coat, jacket, dress and skirt – evoke the irregular beauty and depth of resist dyeing in an intricately woven fabric.
Key to the essence of COLLAGE STRETCH I is its weave: working with multiple yarns and a double-beam warp, the textile is created through an intricate dance between weaving and controlled shrinkage.
Different sections of the fabric are engineered to shrink – through the warp, the weft or in both directions. Combined with precise cutting techniques, a singular textile slowly takes shape – multi-layered and architectural, with a rich, tactile surface. A playful sense of textural depth is further layered into the skirts and dresses, with a lightweight fabric woven with the same warp threads used in certain sections.
Human touch is integral to the world of HaaT: the heavyweight cotton-based fabric is strong yet soft against the skin. Its architectural structure is balanced with elasticity created through the use of stretch yarns in the warp – ensuring comfort with everyday movement.
The beauty of the series goes beyond surface level. The fabric brings to mind the nuanced fading and time-tinged patina of denim – qualities brought to life not through surface printing, but within the weaving itself.
And then there is the final ingredient: nature. A rich colour palette (from navy to dark brown) quietly evokes the deepening shades of an autumnal landscape – threading the beauty of the natural world into the crafted textile cosmos of COLLAGE STRETCH I.
WALL WHITE HEM ｜ EVERY MONTH
Colour shifts.
A white edge.
And a perfect balance – between ink and space, machine and the human hand.
WALL WHITE HEM is a new series by HaaT, shaped by the crafted layering of three tonal shades onto white textile surfaces by specialist artisans in Kyoto.
Organic, irregular and natural: the fabric is imbued with a rare textural depth through its overlaid colours, with painterly abstractions of monochrome gradations juxtaposed with pure white borders. For HaaT, a brand rooted in textile innovations expressed through timeless craftsmanship, key to the creative process is the foundational fabric. The WALL WHITE HEM series uses a chiffon made from cotton blended with a touch of silk – light and airy, cool and breathable, with a subtly textured finish.
The series comes to life in a specialist dyeing factory in southern Kyoto. Here, among time-etched machines, ink-filled buckets and softly filtered sunlight, the white textile is rolled out on a 10m-long conveyor belt. Helmed by skilled experts with decades of experience, the screen-printing process involves carefully pouring dye onto 60cm-wide panels of fabric – with artisans meticulously monitoring the flow of the dye, spreading it by hand using a small spatula to ensure its unique textural effect.
As one artisan explains, pausing from pouring dye onto textiles: “The weather, the temperature at that moment – everything impacts the dyeing process. The machinery is also like an extension of my hands, a part of my body. All these elements need to be in harmony.”
Dyes in three tonal variations of the same shade – either forest-like greens, deep greys or inky navy blues – are carefully layered onto the textile surface. Once completed, the fabric rolls along the conveyor belt and the process is repeated on the next panel – with artisans paying particular attention to aligning patterns between panels.
Next, a cycle of steaming, washing and drying unfolds to seal the dyeing process – and the textile is then ready to be transformed into garments: long and short shirts, skirts, tunics and stoles, all with a tactile edge.
Elemental to the balance of the design is the white margin at the edges – with blocks of colour giving way to the stillness of empty space. The sense of softness is enhanced further by placing the dyed textile over a plain white fabric.
Slow, meticulous, unrushed: it’s a process, rooted in innovation and craftsmanship – embodying a quiet dialogue between human touch and technology.
KUMOSHIBORI ｜EVERY WEEK
Arimatsu-shibori is the general term for the cotton shibori (tie-dyeing) conducted in the Arimatsu-cho and Narumi-cho areas of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. It began and flourished in the early Edo period (1603-1867), when shibori hand towels and other such items were sold as souvenirs to travellers on the Tokaido Highway. Since then, Arimatsu-shibori has been mass-produced in more than 100 different types of shibori patterns using various methods such as tying, sewing, and binding the cloth. Kumo-shibori, one of these patterns, is known as the most common tie-dye design.
For Kumo-shibori, part of the cloth is tied by hand and dyed. After dyeing, the tied part is untied and a spiderweb pattern is revealed (kumo means spider in Japanese ). However, HaaT focuses on the shibori in its tied state, and aims to make the beautiful, organic form of the shibori be remembered in the garments. Created based on this aim, the KUMOSHIBORI series applies the shape-memory property of polyester and incorporates the bumps of the shibori into the design.
KUMOSHIBORI has now become a staple HaaT series. We have continued to use the small Kumo-shibori bumps to add charming decoration to the neck areas and hems of clothing.
KYO CHIJIMI ｜EVERY DAY
Twisted threads.
Pure mountain water.
A lightness to the touch.
Vivid tones.
Time unrushed.
An elemental harmony between humans and nature shapes HaaT’s KYO CHIJIMI collections. Each unique piece comes to life through a blend of centuries-old weaving craftsmanship, progressive dyeing technology and the energy of nature. The result is a textile tinged with a deep natural beauty. It's organic and textured, light and breathable, irregular and ever-changing with time, in a rich spectrum of shades – just like in nature. The story starts in Takashima, a small city on the western shores of Lake Biwa, a serene, still expanse of water wrapped in mountains, just north of Kyoto in Shiga Prefecture. Here, life revolves around water. The peaceful region is steeped in stories, rituals, myths, traditions tethered to the lake that nourishes it.
Lake Biwa is fed by flows of spring water, purified through deep layers of ancient mountains. For centuries, this water has fuelled a rich daily landscape in Takashima – from the cultivation of a local hemp known as Omi jofu to fishing traditions and seasonal festivals. The spring water has long been used by local chijimi fabric weavers. The water’s purity has countless benefits – from prevention of thread breakages to the natural control of temperature and humidity when worn. Pure water is elemental to the beauty of HaaT’s KYO CHIJIMI. Artisans skilfully weave the cotton textile with countless twists and gaps in the weft thread, fuelling a lightness to the touch with minimal skin contact. Spring water is carefully passed through the fabric, causing it to shrink by half. This creates a unique puckering and organic pleating effect with an unevenness more typically found in nature than manufactured items.
Colour is also key. The journey continues at a specialist dyeing factory, surrounded by the majesty of the Tateyama mountains in Toyama Prefecture, a central region overlooking the Sea of Japan. Here, artisans follow a meticulous dyeing process again deeply entwined with nature. Water from a well is cleaned in an outdoor purification system exposed to the elements (skies, sun, wind) before being used to dye the textiles. Artisans use beakers to formulate cocktails of colours, transforming blends from up to 70 inks into an infinite range of one-of-a-kind shades (there are more than 10 different blacks alone). These colours are softly gradated with an unusually intense depth, mirroring the changing seasons of the natural world.
The dyeing process itself is slow, unrushed and carefully nurtured – just like a mother tending her baby, as local artisans say. Textiles are first touched and hand-checked for tangles and wrinkles before being bleached. Then, as dyeing begins, craftsmen adopt a mindfully slow pace. The dyebath is set at an optimum temperature and submerged textiles are checked regularly to ensure the colours smoothly permeate all its uneven textures. These elements combine to create the original beauty of KYO CHIJIMI textiles – pure and natural, unique and vivid, each one rooted in nature and harmonised with a human touch.
