3 ms·

Imagine how much manual work this used to be, back in the Edo period where the garment was invented. I wouldn't change a thing, except the stuffing - it's a wi

by Tor3 3y ago

Imagine how much manual work this used to be, back in the Edo period where the garment was invented. I wouldn't change a thing, except the stuffing - it's a winter garment, so I would stuff it with wool instead of cotton, though that was of course not an option in the Edo period and still hardly is, in Japan.

JohnFen 3y ago
> I would stuff it with wool instead of cotton It also depends on the price point you want to hit. Cotton is much less expensive than wool.
- Tor3 3y ago
  Yes, though the high quality cotton used in Japan can be quite expensive (we had a lot of cotton from old futons at our home, we had to throw a lot away to make room. That stuff was very expensive when those futons were (hand-)made). The thing about wool is that it insulates even when it's damp, while cotton simply collapses as far as insulation is concerned unless it's completely dry.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Absolutely. I'm a huge fan of wool (mostly because no other material will do when I'm camping in middle of the wilderness). But the cost of it makes it difficult for a lot of people to afford. In any case, my point really is that the right material to use in production depends on what your target market is. If you're aiming to sell at a more affluent crowd, then wool all the way! But you might also be aiming to sell at a larger, less affluent group that makes wool the wrong material due to its cost. There's no absolute right or wrong here, only what's right or wrong for the market you're trying to address.
HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
Sheep aren't farmed in Japan?
- bmitc 3y ago
  I listened to the Allbirds edition of the How I Build This podcast on NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730695224/allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger https://www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730695224/allbirds-tim-brown-... It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, they mentioned that sheep farmers in New Zealand were having trouble making money and finding uses of wool. (I might be misremembering, as I'd have to go back and re-listen.) And if anything on Clarkson's Farm is to be taken as an accurate portrayal of farming trends, sheep farming was portrayed as a very difficult and unprofitable business. So I am completely guessing here, but maybe sheep farming is just not popular like it was? Sheep farming being on the decline, at least in the U.S., seems to be at least corroborated by the following after a quick search: https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/sheep-lamb-mutton/sector-at-a-glance/ https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/sheep-lamb-m... https://www.kunc.org/business/2013-10-09/the-long-slow-decline-of-the-u-s-sheep-industry https://www.kunc.org/business/2013-10-09/the-long-slow-decli... According to this article though, Japan is the third biggest importer of wool but only had 20,000 sheep, as of the article's date of 2014: https://www.fragmentsmag.com/en/2014/06/ami-tsumuli-4/ https://www.fragmentsmag.com/en/2014/06/ami-tsumuli-4/. So maybe in Japan, it's both an expensive enterprise to farm sheep and a lot of competition with imports. But that really doesn't answer why it wouldn't be used, which doesn't seem accurate if they're one of the world's top importers of wool, only behind the U.S. and China.

by Tor3 3y ago

JohnFen 3y ago

> I would stuff it with wool instead of cotton It also depends on the price point you want to hit. Cotton is much less expensive than wool.

Tor3 3y ago
Yes, though the high quality cotton used in Japan can be quite expensive (we had a lot of cotton from old futons at our home, we had to throw a lot away to make room. That stuff was very expensive when those futons were (hand-)made). The thing about wool is that it insulates even when it's damp, while cotton simply collapses as far as insulation is concerned unless it's completely dry.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Absolutely. I'm a huge fan of wool (mostly because no other material will do when I'm camping in middle of the wilderness). But the cost of it makes it difficult for a lot of people to afford. In any case, my point really is that the right material to use in production depends on what your target market is. If you're aiming to sell at a more affluent crowd, then wool all the way! But you might also be aiming to sell at a larger, less affluent group that makes wool the wrong material due to its cost. There's no absolute right or wrong here, only what's right or wrong for the market you're trying to address.

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago

Sheep aren't farmed in Japan?

bmitc 3y ago
I listened to the Allbirds edition of the How I Build This podcast on NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730695224/allbirds-tim-brown-joey-zwillinger https://www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730695224/allbirds-tim-brown-... It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, they mentioned that sheep farmers in New Zealand were having trouble making money and finding uses of wool. (I might be misremembering, as I'd have to go back and re-listen.) And if anything on Clarkson's Farm is to be taken as an accurate portrayal of farming trends, sheep farming was portrayed as a very difficult and unprofitable business. So I am completely guessing here, but maybe sheep farming is just not popular like it was? Sheep farming being on the decline, at least in the U.S., seems to be at least corroborated by the following after a quick search: https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/sheep-lamb-mutton/sector-at-a-glance/ https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/sheep-lamb-m... https://www.kunc.org/business/2013-10-09/the-long-slow-decline-of-the-u-s-sheep-industry https://www.kunc.org/business/2013-10-09/the-long-slow-decli... According to this article though, Japan is the third biggest importer of wool but only had 20,000 sheep, as of the article's date of 2014: https://www.fragmentsmag.com/en/2014/06/ami-tsumuli-4/ https://www.fragmentsmag.com/en/2014/06/ami-tsumuli-4/. So maybe in Japan, it's both an expensive enterprise to farm sheep and a lot of competition with imports. But that really doesn't answer why it wouldn't be used, which doesn't seem accurate if they're one of the world's top importers of wool, only behind the U.S. and China.