Natural Cotton Color develops Renaissance lace cardigan for Hiroki Nakamura – VISVIM

Fan of the creativity of Japanese designers like Yohji Yamamoto, Kenzo Takeda and Issei Miaki, Francisca Vieira, CEO of Natural Cotton Color – NCC, welcomed the request to develop a piece of clothing for the stylist Hiroki Nakamura. And the best: the cardigan designed by the stylist was totally inspired by a mosaic of exposed lace during the presence of the NCC in the Maison D’Exceptions, luxury salon of Première Vision Paris in 2016.

Born in Japan, designer Hiroki Nakamura owns Visvin. He began his career in 1990 and since 2001 has been creating handmade pieces inspired by vintage work clothes, tribal culture and also traditional clothing, often using fabrics developed specifically for the brand.

The renaissance lace patchwork is a co-creation. Francisca created the natural paints and distributed the colors within the mosaic idealized by designer Romero Sousa. The renaissance income was made by the hands of Marlene Leopoldino. The mosaic has 10 colors made with natural dyes: hibiscus, the yellow from the saffron, orange from annatto, graphite from cashew, among other colors.

The Renaissance lace cardigan designed by designer Hiroki Nakamura was inspired by the Renaissance lace patchwork sample created by Natural Cotton Color exclusively for the Maison D’Exceptions.

Francisca says she received the sketch 60 days after participating in the event in France. “The dialogues and the commercial transaction were carried out in France by Sabine Alegria, our representative,” says Francisca. “Among the stylist’s recommendations, he asked to lighten the yellow that was in the reference presented in the salon because he works with calmer colors,” Sabine said. The table with the sizes and the fabric of the pockets and buttons were sent direct from Japan to the Natural Cotton Color in João Pessoa.

Francisca explains that the technique is to assemble a mosaic that may look like patchwork, but the mosaic is made on a single board.

To mount the cardigan were used 20 skeins of crochet mercy line, almost two masters of income and 10 days of work. According to Marlene, lacemakers have never done so well in such a short time. Each received R$ 500,00 (US$ 150) for 40 hours of work (they work an average of four hours a day). This is equivalent to three times the amount paid per hour – considering the minimum wage in force in that period. Francisca confirms “it was the first time that a piece developed by our brand was paid at the fair price: US $ 3,900,” reveals Francisca.

The authorization for disclosure was exactly one year after the project was carried out.

Cardigan ready. The photo was sent by Hiroki Nakamura’s team to Natural Cotton Color. 

The way the designer Hiroki Nakamura used the piece is a mystery. Natural Cotton Color received the photo of the cardigan in Japan from his team and the authorization to tell the story only a year later. “We do not know if it’s in a showroom or if the piece has already been released in some collection. We work with a contract with a confidentiality clause. We have others in progress, of much larger brands, but we still can not divulge”, said Francisca.