KAMAWANU
Based in Tokyo, Kamawanu has been producing original tenugui designs since 1990. Tenugui have been part of Japanese culture since the Heian period (794 to 1185), first as a utilitarian object for drying one’s hands and later as fashion accessories in old Edo (now Tokyo). Their tenugui are created by master craftsmen using a mix of traditional and contemporary techniques and technologies.
The patterns on Kamawanu's tenugui are fresh and modern, yet inspired by historic Japanese aesthetics.
The more you wash a tenugui, the softer it becomes. Tenugui are dyed, not printed, using a technique called “chusen” which dyes all the way through the material and makes it reversible. Chusen-dyed colors slowly slightly fade with time, providing the experience of the colors “settling” with regular use. With more use and washing, Kamawanu tenugui become intimate objects, reflecting the Japanese term “mono no aware”, or an empathy for objects.