KOYORI ANECDOTES

WHY KOYORI STARTED

There are many furniture manufacturers in Japan, but only few of them have been able to establish their brands in overseas markets. Although many manufacturers in Japan have excellent manufacturing capabilities, it is very challenging to expand their products overseas, partially due to the lack of necessary know-how and language skills.

KOYORI formed an alliance built together by some leading manufacturers from across Japan, together with a specialized trading company with expertise in branding, marketing, logistics, language support, and design strategy to introduce Japanese manufacturing to the world in the best possible way.

We also wanted to showcase the profoundness of Japanese manufacturing through this new project. Japan has many different regions, each with its own history, and therefore different in manufacturing specialties. We thought that it would be great if we could represent all such unique characteristics of each manufacturer as one big brand.

Considering the scale of individual Japanese furniture manufacturers, it was clear that it would be very difficult for a single furniture manufacturer to expand their market overseas. That is how we came up with the idea of forming an alliance with several leading Japanese furniture manufacturers to create a fresh, new brand.

THE BEGINNING

The KOYORI launch project started in 2019, one year before the pandemic began. The unprecedented outbreak of the pandemic was completely unexpected, and we couldn’t help but being concerned about what would happen next. However, on the contrary, the pandemic has fortunately made our preparation period easy to sail through.

Despite to the situation that made us impossible to travel, the designers and KOYORI team managed to shift the minds and adjust to online meetings, and overall, it has become a smooth process.

There were some factors that couldn’t have determined without visiting the factories. Therefore, we recorded videos of the factories and showed them to the designers, explaining them in detail about the facilities, manufacturers’ specialized technologies, and types of jigs used.

As a result of all these, we could bring forth those wonderful products.

The designers recall their moments as below: “I think, in a certain way, the situation forced us to fully concentrate on what we were doing. ... Undoubtedly, this situation has forced us to be efficient. We had to be simple and clear in our approach but at the same time without being too banal. Each chair is unique and has a very good reason to exist,” says Ronan Bouroullec.

“The experience and passion have undoubtedly helped us to work remotely, and the collaboration has been very smooth,” says GamFratesi.

PHILOSOPHY

“Embodying the true Japanese Aesthetics”: This is KOYORI’s philosophy.

In Japan, it has always been believed that brilliant beauty is inherently exclusive to truly useful objects, as in, first and foremost, practical products used daily. Products must be functional, reliable, durable to withstand everyday use.

In addition to superb material quality however, they must have cognitive appeal or beauty that brings joy to those who utilize them. We must ensure the product has the kind of beauty that allows its users to feel joy upon use. This beauty can be found in the tiniest details, and it is the diligence and dedication given to these details that is the foundation of aesthetics to Japan and its people.

KOYORI aspires to transcend borders. We believe it is in our craftsmanship that we reflect Japanese aesthetics, while designs should be kept a borderless affair. Therefore, we do not wish to apply an unnecessary amount of Japanese sensibility into our designs. In order to fulfill the needs of users around the world, KOYORI collaborates with international designers to ensure that the size, utility, and other aspects of our products will meet the needs of users worldwide.

ALL EPISODES