Featured Supplier – Hokkoh

Posted On July 29, 2016

A specialist in decorative prints, Hokkoh has been a journey of steady progression since the Eighties. Based in Osaka, Japan, the fashion textile maker continues to support locals affected by the 2011 earthquake by crafting and printing lustrous cotton materials with unique prints sourced by the best in Europe and America.

Located within the bustle of Osaka city, textile firm Hokkoh, has been part of the Japanese manufacturing industry for over 35 years. A specialist in decorative prints, Hokkoh has been a journey of steady progression. Its head office moved three times in its first year of operation, before settling in Osaka’s Minamihonmachi Chuo-ku for the next twenty years. Today, it can be found in a minimalist, multi-storey facility in Honmachi Chuo-ku, designing hundreds of new designs annually, and then exporting them across the globe.

Hokkoh’s philosophy is simple yet specific, according to Shigeya Takayama, the president of Hokkoh, who was appointed by company shareholders to leadership in 2011.

Takayama’s appointment coincided with the Great Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake of 2011, which swept up the nations and depressed civilian morale and the economy. Since that day, Hokkoh decided to focus on ‘dressing-up’ their fabric, bringing some color back into the lives of the Japanese people. “Our corporate goal is ‘to enrich someone’s mind by printed designs and make society brighter’ and we always keep this in mind,” says Takayama.

The fashion textiles maker sources its yarn mostly from Japan. Most of the printing process takes place in Japan too – making high quality “Made in Japan” materials their forte. By keeping all aspects – from the individual thread to the finished fabric – very local, Hokkah sets itself apart from other Japanese textile makers who look to cheaper manufacturing in countries like China.

With a tightknit team of forty employees, Hokkoh is more about high quality materials, as opposed to becoming the grandest Japanese firm – a concept that keeps them entirely focused on the fabric, not corporate status.

Hokkoh makes around 600 new designs each year, which they keep in stock and ready for shipment all year round. And customers – including top European and American apparel brands – can customize textiles with their own designs, too – making Hokkoh an easy choice for niche designs.

The 100%-cotton fabrics are woven into chinos, corduroy and brushed flannel, as well as cotton dobby and luxurious pure wool jacquards. Hokkoh designs for women’s wear, men’s, and children’s wear, as well as interior fabrics for the home.

The mill has showed seasonally at Premiere Vision in Paris for the last ten years, carving a lead role at the tradeshow, especially in the men’s market with militant camo prints and polka dot flannel. The women’s market is the latest fashion segment of focus for the team. The FW15 season fabrics went big with florals and ultra-feminine geos, created to entice the major designers in the French capital in February.

This year will see Hokkoh attend Premier Vision in New York, specifically showcasing indigo products, discharge dyeing techniques and cotton fabrics made with extra long staple yarn. Hokkoh hopes to press into New York’s burgeoning market as it becomes even more of a fashion hub for design. Gradual expansion is pivotal to Hokkoh’s longevity as a manufacturer, but the mill admits it will never lose sight of its commitment to the Japanese people – one it made back in 2011. “Around the time of the earthquake, a local woman started supplying those affected by the disaster with fabrics for handiworks to give them hope again,” explains Takayama.

“She found our fabrics and people started to make products such as pouches and bags. Her work became really famous and she couldn’t find our fabrics anymore because they had sold out across Japan. So she sent a letter to our company as a personal request for a reprint of more designs. Her letter surprised us and we realized our designs make people happy and they are absolutely imperative,” adds the president. “We felt the emotion in her letter and we thought we have to keep this going, these feelings and opportunity.”