Founded in 1915. Yamakae Worsted has been a leader in the woolen textile industry since its establishment in 1915.
Bishu is one of the world's three largest woolen textile production centers. The "Gachaman" bubble, which began with the activities of Harukichi Kataoka, the father of the woolen textile industry, in the Meiji era (1868-1912) and was said to bring in 10,000 yen just by running a loom once, is now a thing of the past. It is said that the production volume of "Gachaman" is now down to about 901 TP10T from its heyday. Even so, there are powerful companies that have inherited the techniques handed down from generation to generation, and even today, approximately 80% of Japan's woolen textiles are produced in this region. Yamakae Wool Textile is one of the leading companies in this field.
The company was founded in 1915. Around 1950, the company was involved in the development of the world's first black formal wear, and later, around 2000, the factory was visited by many of the world's most prestigious brands. Since that time, they have started to handle not only plain wool, but also denim and linen.
We've done it in different forms for different times."
In a corner of the premises of Yamakae Wool Weaving, next to a workshop where craftspeople work on traditional looms with a familiar hand, is an office. In one of the rooms where a large number of fabric swatches and product samples are displayed, Kazuhiro Yamada, the fourth generation owner of Yamakae Wool Weaving, began to talk about the history of the company. Beside him was a rack of samples of the next season of Hakuro. . It is modest, but clearly and unmistakably present.
The brand name "Hakuro" means "white heron. The saw-toothed roofs of factories and rice paddies, which Mr. Yamada has seen since his childhood, are always filled with egrets. Now, he is about to fly away with them. This is the thought that is embodied in this work.
