The MinaHomi Design Workshop consists of a pair of sisters, Minako (textile designer) and Homi (craft enthusiast), who have both experience and great personal interest in design.
Working together and centering their work around pattern design with the distinct theme of “Japaneseness,” they plan workshops on making various hand-made crafts, such as carved eraser stamps, and they put together their own original zines (self-published magazines).
MinaHomi’s first featured product is their “Simple Pouch.” These pouches are made with canvas, a material used for making sails, which means they are built to last. They spent a full year consulting with a bag designer on all of its finest details in order to make the product into a reality,
from the cut to a pattern-less material, to the color of the lining, to the pocket shape and make, and much more.
The first batch of these pouches is offered at a special, reduced price, and the MinaHomi sisters explain:
“When we ordered the zipper pulls from our metalworker, they provided them at a reduced, trial price for us. A lot happened on the way that we hadn’t thought about until we actually got out there and worked on it, so we were so incredibly thankful to them for keeping the price low for us to get started.”
“However, as production went on, we wanted to keep in touch more regularly, so we began our own ‘morning assembly,’ as we jokingly call it, each and every weekend to share our progress. We began to want to, together with our metalworker, Mizupha, make more than just pouches.
And, that being the case, we began to feel more strongly that it would be better to purchase these not at a trial price, but at a sustainable price where we could continue production.
So, we don’t know how much they will end up costing, but, once we run out of the first batch of forty charms, we decided to begin ordering them at full price. Because of this, the current price of this batch of pouches will be limited to the first forty items.”
The MinaHomi Design Workshop put everything they had into the design and make of these pouches in order to create a truly special product, and they plan to produce four different bag designs based on the themes of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
