Creating world's most beautiful bag. Episode 1. To small factory in Ota Ward

I’m Soichiro Hashimoto, 

Creative Director of BLAU Design Complex, Inc. 

We design and market "products that have never been seen,"

"and functionally beautiful merchandise"

Expressing who we are in words is very simple, but in reality 

being an product innovator is very challenging.

Please let me explain.

Before designing our products we ourselves haven't seen what we are creating…

When we design our goods, we begin by challenging convention.

What do we mean? 

We do what has never been done. 

If you look closely, 

"Isn't it cool?" 

Please see my first product - a  high-end briefcase. 

 
When walking in Tokyo's downtown business district, I (Soichiro Hashimoto) noticed the following:

Many business people are bustling.
Their hairstyles are attractive.
Their suits are clean, slender, and stylish.
Their shoes are shiny and their watches are Rolex.

Surely they are good at what they do, and they are very fashionable.

However…
something was always off. 

Yes, it was their bags.
They carried three-way business bags made of nylon...
or a LV briefcase with dirty handles, and so on.


If you look closely at these bags, it was easy to think

"That's not cool!"

 
I can’t help but feel that"three-way nylon business bags" do not match the hands carrying them.

They do not match the sleeves of the nice suits nor the high-class watches. 

I thought, "Let me make the world's most beautiful briefcase." 

It all started there.

At first, I began thinking about material. 

What is the favorite material of men?
Perhaps it is metal, leather, or wood. 
 (It should not be nylon.) 

These materials are used in the interior of British luxury cars.
Similarly, high-class  watches employ these materials. 

Therefore, I decided on capitalizing on these materials for our briefcases.

Designing the briefcase came next.
To be honest, I have never studied design nor had I made bags.

Still, I was very interested in beautiful creations. 

This interest enabled me to design BLAUDESIGN Briefcases. 

In the beginning, I did not know basic design nor how to make a general bag.

I thought that If I had knowledge of design,I would just make a general bag. 

Then, I began to think "What would happen if I made  a briefcase of aluminum and applyed 

high class cowhide to the surface?

A cool briefcase would result, right? 

I drew and drew illustrations on my sketchbook.
Later, I drew sketches with Adobe Illustrator. 

Wow! It's actually beautiful!

Ok.
The next step was preparing for the trial production. 

Hmmm? 

"Make the frame with aluminum?" I thought. "How?" "Where?"

Well, I have never done metal work until now, so I had to find a way.

I researched the Web and headed to Tokyo's "Ota Ward Industrial Plaza ( PiO.)"

PiO provides information about industries in Tokyo's Ota Ward.
PiO lists the small factory in the Ota Ward where NASA also ordered precision metal 

Processing.Therefore, I knew I would be able to find a good factory through PiO.

The industrial information corner of Tokyo's PiO is located just in front of Keikyu Kamata Station.

At the industrial information corner,　　-DAY

                             Me 

I said, "Hello! this is my first time coming here. Is it possible for me find a small factory 

that will make my product?" 

                             PiO 

"Ah, this is a strange shape... Is this a bag? 

Few places in the Ota Ward are doing trial production of this kind of product.

Why don't you try... ABC Metal Factory or CDF Metal Case Factory,

the Presidents of those factorys have a samurai spirit. "

PiO provided the address and a simple map.
It was like a treasure map in an adventure game.
The beginning was going well. 

(Delusions)

 At the small factory in the Ota Ward    -DAY

                             Me 

"Hello! I am here for first time. I found out about this factory from PiO.
I'd like to make this briefcase. Can you produce this? " 

                      Small factory 

"It's a rare design you know. We usually make camera cases in this factory.

However, I was just thinking of trying to make a new product.
Anyway, should I go to another factory? 
 Well, I don't know if we can make it or not, but I'll try! " 

 Wow! This small factory will make the briefcase frame!

 

I knew I could trust a factory introduce to me by PiO. And the Japanese economy is still in recession.
Yet,Japan is a great manufacturing country you know! 

But,
In reality. . . .(;-()

To be Continue to create the world's most beautiful bag. Episode 2