Aussie company Hands On Workshop (HOW) has launched a new range of artisan aprons from Japanese manufacturer Shisei.
HOW takes the rich tradition and superior quality of Japanese artisan crafts and makes its products widely accessible to the market.
One of the aprons in its Crafting Aprons range has the distinctly Japanese style of a wide shoulder strap which crosses at the back.
“I think aprons are stylish workwear for creative jobs―whether you’re a crafter, maker or artisan baker, it’s a uniform which is practical and looks good to wear,” says Nicole McCarthy, founder and owner of HOW.
“Plenty of people wear uniforms or suits for office jobs, so why not have beautiful uniforms for the messy creative jobs too?”
McCarthy shows her ranges including the Japanese style aprons and pinafore apron dress at specialist fairs and curated markets such as Finders Keepers in Australia.
“We’ve had lots of younger women discovering the pinafore apron dress, which is like an everyday dress you can throw over a tank top or your yoga wear. It’s more like a dress than an apron. We ran out of stock and had to take orders.”
Fortunately HOW ships several products direct from Japan, so McCarthy could line up new stock and ship directly to customers. “It’s good to see people loving the aprons as much as I do.”
HOW’s curated selection of contemporary products is exclusively sourced from Japanese manufacturers, including translated instructions in English. Increasingly the products are shipped direct from Japan to new customers from the UK and Europe.
By Marion Gerritsen
