Hosoo Flagship store

From across the street in Karasuma-Oike, HOSOO looks like a black block with very little to say. Come closer and the plaster gives it away. The joints are gilded, each a line of gold leaf three millimetres wide. It’s an extravagant detail to make quite so difficult to see.

In the ground-floor shop, cushions sit in a grid of lit shelves. Look along the row from an angle and a thread that seemed dark a moment ago catches the light. The cloth is Nishijin-ori, named for Kyoto’s weaving district. Nishijin means ‘western camp’, a trace of the army once stationed there. The Hosoo family began weaving in the district in 1688. Its weavers still work with specialists across more than twenty stages, starting with yarn dyed before it reaches the loom.

An obi, the sash worn with a kimono, makes a splendid argument for a narrow loom. A sofa is harder to persuade. In 2010, HOSOO built a loom that could weave Nishijin cloth a metre and a half wide, enough to let a pattern run across a seat or fall in the long folds of a curtain. The family firm can work on the scale of a camera, too. For Leica’s Q2 ‘Dawn’ by Seal, HOSOO wove black thread with gold-coloured washi paper to catch the light like sun through leaves. The camera has competition from its own casing.

Upstairs, the gallery gives textiles a room of their own. The lounge downstairs serves tea and seasonal sweets in crafted tableware. Back in the shop, the cloth comes in sizes ranging from a small zipped pouch to a set of made-to-order curtains. HOSOO lists its cushions online from ¥48,400. For curtains or upholstered furniture, the choice runs to around 150 fabrics. Allow a little time if two of them look the same at first.