Introduction — Texts

In earlier times, people sewed garments suited to the environments in which they lived, and, through repeated wear, mended frayed areas to keep them in use. In Japan as well—especially within the kimono culture of the Edo period—techniques took root for extending the life of clothing: tsugihagi, in which torn sections were repaired by applying other fabrics, and saki-ori, in which aged cloth was torn into cords and rewoven as new fabric.

With the influx of Western dress in the Meiji period, a way of living centered on purchasing ready-made garments began. After the war, as mass production and consumption expanded, our relationship with clothing changed further. Today, clothing is treated as something to be bought, and it has become difficult to feel the act of making it with one’s own hands.

This shift in perception arose because garments came to be made far from our immediate reach. In Japan, between 1991 and 2022, retail prices for apparel fell by roughly fifty percent, while the volume supplied nearly doubled. Behind this were relocations of production to developing countries, as companies—including global brands—sought lower labor and equipment costs.

As a result, garments whose making is opaque are easily discarded, often without attachment. A production structure premised on short cycles of making and disposal has taken hold, bringing with it problems such as environmental degradation and harsh working conditions, including sweatshops that impose low wages and long hours. The 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh ^*1 starkly revealed the limits of the modern apparel industry.

MITTAN stands in strong resistance to these shifts in the value placed on clothing. To return garment-making—now distant both physically and emotionally—to a closer place, we engage actively at every stage: from production to sales, and on to the moment when a piece that has reached the customer finally concludes its role.

Here, with the hope that you will feel a lasting attachment to MITTAN garments, we share the ideas that guide our work. We present texts that make the field visible: the properties of materials and designs; the distinctive processes embedded in details; and episodes from production with partner workshops that provide the techniques and materials we require. Through these accounts, we hope you will sense the reality of garment-making as collaboration, and understand that each piece is formed as an accumulation of many hands and of experience.

1. Rana Plaza building collapse: An accident near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, in which the building known as Rana Plaza collapsed. Housing many garment factories, it had undergone illegal additions and neglected seismic and safety management, resulting in the collapse and the loss of many workers’ lives.