Good Find: Anomaly Structure

Strolling the lanes of Kyoto’s Arashiyama neighborhood, one passes a number of souvenir stores selling incense, pottery and the like. Then, there is one store that looks different from the rest, with a wooden and leather studded sign that reads “Anomaly Structure” and a bicycle parked in front. This is the atelier and shop for fashion and accessory designer Koichiro Aikawa. Actually the building interior, marked by whitewashed walls, raw wooden beams, and handmade racks is also the designer’s work as well. Like his showroom, all the items featured inside are one of a kind. This is a principle on which Aikawa refuses to compromise, though it makes him ineligible to fill orders and requests for other boutiques which he has accepted though on occasion turned down others. Yet one gets the sense from talking with the thirty-something Kyoto-born designer that he isn’t bothered by what others might consider a missed opportunity. “I’m pretty stubborn,” Aikawa offers as an excuse. Aikawa also offers a different perspective on the things we wear, and how we wear them: “People take too much care of their clothes these days, taking things to the dry cleaner. Real clothes are clothes that get worn,” he says, proudly showing off a decidedly worn 70-year-old leather military jacket (that isn’t for sale).

Aikawa’s own designs, infinitely wearable, possess some traditional Japanese elements like a wrapping effect reminiscent of a kimono. Yet the pieces are also fitted for function- pants are roomy in the seat for bicycle riding while flattering long coats have subtle darts that add shape. With only one assistant, he sources and dyes all the fabric himself. The inspiration, Aikawa says comes from his surroundings, citing for example, “the color of the temple steps in the morning light.”

Aikawa has no patience for shallow trends built on signifiers rather than soul and he laments the lack of apparel options in Japan, particularly for men. When he started working with leather, for example, Aikawa realized that existing items tended to fall into one of three disparate, though equally extreme, looks: biker, Native American, or “European chic.” It is this reliance on image labels that Aikawa, and his clothes, wishes to shake up.

Essentially self-taught, Aikawa credits the shops which supply him with fabric, thread as well as the equipment with which he was taught to make clothes. When he wants to know how to make something, or more specifically the qualities of certain materials, the plain-speaking designer just asks. “I prefer to work with small, older and more established companies. The big ones have more variety but no knowledge,” he says. “If I am communicating with a 70, 80 year old man whose life is his work then there is a shared sense of passion. With someone younger it’s just business.”

His design education, initially as an accessory maker, began on the road. Aikawa learned metal craft from artisans in Nepal and Thailand, where he made his first creations from his room in a guest house. He also learned from a Native American master in Arizona.  Other travels have taken him across large swaths of Asia, Europe and South America. Upon returning to Japan Aikawa began selling his accessories, silver pieces both bold and abstract on the streets of Osaka. “I like to tell people I’m ‘true street,’” Aikawa says, with a smile. An image he hopes becomes stronger with every successive collection.

Anomaly Structure is located at 24-1 Saganison Inmonzen Ojouincho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan, 〒616-8426