KAI
The four sacred places for cowhide are France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland. ``kAI'' is made from a single piece of the highest quality cowhide from Poland and is vegetable tanned. It is a very luxurious material with a glossy and fine texture. The atelier is located in Breda, a suburb of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, which has long flourished as the center of the Dutch leather industry. ``KAI'' rents a tannery factory that has been in business for over 100 years and uses it as an atelier to create products. The entire process is handmade by just three people, led by designer Kai Hameleers and assistant designers Josa and David. We still use all the old equipment that was left in this tannery, such as sewing machines, buffs, and leather scraping machines, to create our products. Another big attraction of "KAI" is the dyeing method called aniline dyeing. This is a dyeing technique that takes advantage of the texture of the finest materials without sacrificing their expression, and is often seen in luxury manufacturing, but they have developed their own dyes that express colors that cannot be imitated anywhere else. It is. The production method for our products differs from the usual production methods for bags and leather accessories, and we use a method that uses wooden molds, which is similar to shoe production. Since the shape is formed by hanging it in a wooden mold, there are fewer sewing parts. During this process, the leather is soaked in water to shrink it, and then suspended using a wooden mold to stretch the material until it fits perfectly. Although aniline dyeing gives the leather a very natural color and texture, it has the disadvantage of being sensitive to water. However, in the case of KAI, it has been soaked in water once, so even though it is an aniline dye, it has a high resistance to water.
