Kagari Yusuke – Bags Crafted like Cities are Built

Bags might be the only items that touch our bodies more often than clothes.

We all have our favorite bags. Be it a leather bag that gets better with usage or a functional backpack carrying our work tools. The genre incorporates a spectrum of craftsmanship, from hand-made items to cutting-edge materials. Fashion technology is indeed embedded within it.
Luxury maisons, like Luis Vuitton, use them as brand icons, and then we have brands like FREITAG brilliantly combining design and sustainability.

Among all these, there exists a truly unique Japanese bag brand.

Welcome to the world of 'Kagari Yusuke', a brand with a fascinating collection defined by the concept of a 'portable wall'. The texture of the products, distinct from both natural materials and synthetic fibers, along with their singular aging effect, sets them apart.
In this article, we interview the designer, Kagari Yusuke, and discuss the thought process leading to the creation of these bags while introducing various artworks and discussing the development anecdotes related to their unique texture processing techniques.

Tell us about your work at 'Kagari Yusuke.'

I use specially processed leather to make and sell mainly bags, small items and accessories. I started the brand in 2007, and now it's the 17th year for me.

Your texture is unmatchable.

The concept of my brand is 'carrying a wall'.

The inspiration, as the concept suggests, comes from 'walls' that exist in every city. We coat the cowhide with putty and allow it to dry for about two weeks to give it a wall-like texture before sewing it. The entire manufacturing process is carried out by myself and a team of two helpers.

By 'putty,' are you referring to industrial paint applied to leather?

Yes. The putty used for the white bag, for instance, is the same that is used for white walls in art galleries. We apply it to the leather using a commercial spatula and roller.

We also use electric wires and rebar for handles and original parts inspired by exhaust ducts.

Unlike typical bag manufacturers, most of the materials we use are not for apparel but industrial building materials, and suppliers include Monotaro and Amazon's building material suppliers. It would not be wrong to say we use materials that build cities to craft our bags.

As a result of these characteristics, the aging (change over time due to use) of my bags is wholly different from ordinary leather bags. The effects of the user's sebum and ultraviolet rays accumulate over time, leaving traces of elapsed time and thus creating the bag’s unique texture.

What led to the development of such unique processing techniques?

I developed the current surface processing technique in 2007 when I was 22 years old. The idea to create a bag that resembled a 'wall' inspired me to buy about ten kinds of wall paints from a Tokyu Hands in Shibuya and start by combining them with various substrates such as paper, fabric, and leather.

I just thought, "I don't know anything, but let's give it a shot," and was very lucky to discover the paint I'm still using today in that initial trial. The material was solid, strong, and easy to work with.

All nine other types were a complete failure. The cement painting had the highest 'wall' reproduction quality, but it was very heavy, inflexible, and so hard that the sewing machine needle couldn't penetrate it. It could become a wall but not a bag.