T-Square Design Associates

ikki流という、ろうけつ染めの工房が展開する自社ブランドがあり、その工房が、自社のろうけつ染めの着物を中心に全国の良質な着物を扱う京都市内の呉服販売店である。日本人の着物離れが叫ばれて久しいが、ここのろうけつ染めの着物は、その独特の絵柄と技法により、全国のコアなファンから支持されており、毎年売り上げを伸ばし続けている（お父様が絵師で息子さんが販売を担当）。そして、その独創的な絵柄から着想を得て、少し前に流行った某アニメの無限城のような空間を創り出せないかと思い、壁や天井を鏡面素材（鏡や鏡面パネル等）で仕上げ、無限城のような奥行感のない浮遊感を感じる空間で、お気に入りの絵柄の着物を探すというシーンを描いてみた。そんな発想に至った背景には、着物は反物と帯が対であり、どちらかが欠けると和装として成立しない。鏡もまた「面」と、そこに映り込む「物体」が常に対の関係性であり、何も映り込まない鏡はない。鏡はありのままの姿を映し、着物は、その人の人となりをそのまま映す。飛躍した発想をすれば、鏡と着物というのは対の関係性にあるのではないかと考えた。そして、結果的にその考えから生まれた空間は、世界のどこにも存在しない個性的な呉服店となった。

写真：楠瀬友将

Ikki-ryu is a kimono store in Kyoto City that sells high-quality kimonos from all over Japan, mainly its own wax-resist dyed kimonos. It has been said for some time that Japanese people are moving away from kimonos, but the unique designs and techniques of the wax-resist dyed kimonos here have earned them the support of core fans from all over Japan, and sales continue to grow every year (the father is the artist and the son is in charge of sales). Inspired by the unique designs, we tried to create a space like the Infinity Castle from a certain anime that was popular a while ago, and we came up with a scene in which the walls and ceiling are finished with mirror materials (mirrors and mirror panels, etc.) and a space with a floating feeling without a sense of depth like the Infinity Castle, where people search for a kimono with their favorite design. The background to this idea is that a kimono is a pair of a roll of cloth and an obi, and if either one is missing, it cannot be considered a Japanese outfit. A mirror also always has a paired relationship between the "surface" and the "object" reflected in it, and there is no mirror that does not reflect anything. A mirror reflects one's true appearance, and a kimono reflects a person's character. Taking a leap of faith, we thought that mirrors and kimonos have a counter-relationship. As a result, the space born from this idea became a one-of-a-kind kimono shop that does not exist anywhere else in the world (neither this space nor the patterns on the kimonos).

Photo：Tomoyuki Kusunose