I’ve almost always worked more than one job. And at the start of the Covid pandemic I lost both of them: as a bike messenger in San Francisco, and as a journalist for the local news. During the days of shelter-in-place and with no job to report to, I passed a lot of time repairing my wardrobe: darning moth eaten sweaters, patching worn out jeans. It seemed the most sensible way to stave off dread. And when the world began to open again, passersby noticed my spruced up clothes, asking where I got them. Friends inquired if I could do the same for them. Then the friends of friends. Then strangers asked if I could teach them to sew. Then if I could alter their clothes. Then make them new ones. And so the business grew from there, a step and a stitch at a time.

I started with mending. A peasant art. A skill of thrift. And I adhere to a simple mantra - repurpose, repair, repeat - sourcing the majority of my materials from second-hand stores and scrap shops where remnant yards of fabric can be purchased at a minimum, and thread and buttons can be had for pennies. Even now, years later, when crafting whole garments I still begin with as much salvage as possible. First considering the materials, then creating the design.

For a long time I resisted calling the work I do Japanese, or even Japanese influenced. For one thing, most of it is based in values of resource conservation and on simple sewing traditions that can be found in every culture, including my own. And for another, I’m not Japanese. I’m not even Asian. But the most eye catching designs I’ve done owe a heavy debt to Japanese and East Asian aesthetics. And at the encouragement of friends - on both sides of the Pacific - I feel ready to offer my own interpretation of design and repair to the broader world.

I’m not a purist. I freely mix elements from multiple traditions, even within the same garment. My work could hardly be called authentic - not to Japanese, or American, or to any single heritage. It is only authentic to myself. I offer quality I would be proud to wear.