DARUMA's new yarn, GENMOU, debuts this fall
Photo by Kotori Kawashima
In Japan, everyone knows DARUMA for their hand sewing thread. Most of us grew up seeing our grandmothers and mothers sewing kimonos or kitchen towels with DARUMA thread. It is such a small household item, yet memorable, probably thanks to the unusual trademark and its quality. The trademark, Daruma, is the 6th century priest who started Zen Buddhism in China. He is often portrayed in a round shape, because the legend says he lost his limbs from continuing Zen meditation for 9 years. The red, round shape with an often comical face is regarded as a symbol for achieving your goals after hard work.
Now, DARUMA Yarn. It is a less common knowledge that they also manufacture knitting yarn. Most of their products had been a mass-produced type for craft store chains, until several years ago, when the product development head at that time, and now current President, decided that it was about time to do things differently. While many Japanese yarn makers release new yarns every year, they decided to pursue quality and to create unique products. GENMOU is one of these new products, created in an effort to design a yarn that is as light and soft as it could be. "It's easy to make a light yarn if you mix acrylics, but we didn't want to do that. The idea we came up with was to use carded wool." Nylon threads are often used for holding a string of roving together, but for GENMOU yarn DARUMA created a thread from the same wool. When they searched for the source material, the wool had to be soft, high micron and even enough to use as it was, as well as for spinning an extra-thin thread. "GENMOU" means raw wool in Japanese, and was named because touching the yarn reminded the team of touching the soft body of merino sheep.
It was in fall 2014 when DARUMA and amirisu started a discussion on potential collaboration. While amirisu imports many yarns from overseas, bringing high-quality Japanese products to the international fiber market has been one of our goals since setting up the company. The reason why amirisu considered DARUMA special was their impressive vast knowledge in yarn manufacturing - from sourcing to spinning and dyeing. They knew how to make the yarn they want. On the other hand, DARUMA wanted a new and exciting challenge for the next generation of their employees.
DARUMA and amirisu agreed that a yarn like GENMOU is fairly uncommon in both Japanese and international markets, and it is a yarn that DARUMA is planning on expanding in years to come. The yarn is made in Bishu in Aichi Prefecture, the area historically known for wool products. Many small mills and dye houses are concentrated in close proximity, and GENMOU is manufactured back and forth between two places. The yarn is sold in a smaller ball in Japan, but has been repackaged as a 50g ball with a brand-new label.
The collection, GENMOU 2017, was put together based on a mood board the team created. "We did not try to make a collection with a Japanese aesthetic, but the designers we invited were inspired by the geometric images and Japanese scenery on the mood board." One of DARUMA's factories was used as a location for the photo shoot, so we could show people how and where they make their products.
GENMOU is the first DARUMA yarn to travel overseas, but definitely not the last. The team wants to continue creating exciting and fun products nobody else makes, and it may not be limited to yarn and thread.
GENMOU yarn and 2017 Collection patterns are available through global stockists and on DARUMA Ravelry store.
photos on page 54-55 courtesy of DARUMA.