SENDAI--Italian fashion house Gucci has teamed up with a maker of traditional Japanese Sendaihira silk fabric to produce handbags whose proceeds will be donated to relief efforts in areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
SENDAI--Italian fashion house Gucci has teamed up with a maker of traditional Japanese Sendaihira silk fabric to produce handbags whose proceeds will be donated to relief efforts in areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Gucci plans to sell about 10 of the bags for around 420,000 yen ($4,225) a piece.
Yoshio Koda, 84, a craftsman of Sendaihira silk fabric, which dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1867), is working with Gucci to produce the bags. Koda is designated by the government as a living national treasure.
Sendaihira was used to make traditional "hakama" trousers for men, including samurai. Sendaihira-made hakama have also been favored by Kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers.
Koda offered a "tan" (a measure of about 11 meters by 34 centimeters) of Sendaihira silk fabric, which is worth several million yen, to Gucci for free. Craftsmen for the Italian brand then incorporated the fabric into the special edition bags.
Some of the bags went on sale at a department store in Sendai on July 12. The others will be sold in Tokyo and Osaka from September.