Last year, craft-focused menswear label KUON orchestrated an unexpected collaboration by combining Italian luxury sportswear label C.P. Company with a gang of Japanese grannies, the Sashiko Gals, who brought their hand-stitched artistry to weather-resistant nylon shell jackets. Almost exactly 12 months later, KUON is at it again.

KUON has once again got its hands on old C.P. Company stock and aims to take it in an equally artisanal direction. This time, KUON’s gone to the tiny subtropical Amami Oshima island in southwest Japan, no Gals involved.

Using techniques passed down for generations, the local Kanai Kogei dyeing studio turns C.P. Company jackets deep brown and vibrant indigo using ancient organic materials, adding a human touch to high-tech outerwear. 

The browns are achieved through raw materials from local sharinbai trees, which are used to dye the jackets before being immersed in muddy fields to even out the color. Naturally, there are small inconsistencies in how the dye takes to the cloth, creating a rich patina that’s evidence of the handwrought dyeing process.

The blue jackets utilize the indigo color contained in the Indian indigo plant’s leaves. The island’s warm climate then helps add to the jacket’s gorgeously vivid coloration. 

C.P. Company wouldn’t let just anyone dye one of its coats. The company's founder, Massimo Osti, pioneered garment-dyeing nylon in the ‘70s and it remains C.P. Company's specialty. So, for C.P. Company to outsource the dyeing of its nylon jackets is a significant tip of the hat.

KUON’s one-off collection, available from the Isetan Shinjuku Main Store in Tokyo from February 18, takes the opposite approach to C.P. Company. Compared to hi-tech garment dyeing, these traditional Japanese techniques are decidedly antiquated, but the final goal remains the same: providing each item with a beautifully unique patina.

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