May 23, 2019
Takahiro Sato
Gerbera Design inc. Designer / CEO

Hello everyone.
Thank you for always support us KUDEN.
Here, designer Takahiro.

Today, I have a very important announcement to you.

I had a call yesterday from president of Marron Co, Ltd., our partner sewing factory.
And she said Marron went bankrupt.
Our precious partner went out of business.

Now I’m raging mad, silently but really.
To myself, it was a selfish and naive customer.

April in 2013, there was a tragic accident caused by rough working environment at Lana Plaza, sewing factory, in Bangladesh.
That caused over thousand of deaths.
After this sad incident , fashion world should have been enhanced the awareness to work environment that people produce clothing and fabric.
It supposed to be so.
But in Japan, even in the world, we can say it’s not getting better.

Simply we can say,
It’s caused by customers, includes me, who want cheeper and fast but high quality.
We, customer continue to waste and waste the fashion.
Fashion brand make the flow like “ satisfy those demand “ = “ make money ”.
Of course they can’t make good one only by cheep money so they mass-produce, don’t pay fair fee to sewing factory in the country, brand can employ by cheep personnel expenses.
After that, they mass-dispose for keep their brand’s value and make a monopoly of profit.
This, is the current situation of fashion world tase days.

At Marron, many women and elder people worked so lively, they have excellent sewing technique.
Without Marron’s great technique, experience and kind support to us, Samurai Mode jacket never been born.

When I had a call from president of Marron, silently I said “Thank you for all your doing. I really proud of you, make your best for not lay off anyone.”
That’s all , I can tell to her.

We grieved for situation of sewing factory and make our best to pay more expensive fee to Marron than other brand.
(The cost rate of KUDEN is 50%, including sewing fee. Other is about 10% - 30%)


And we always said to people in Marron,
“ We grow KUDEN and will ask you more and more job!”
They smiled, we smiled too.

There is no Marron Co, Ltd, anymore in the world.
People who worked at Marron must look for new job.
Their great sewing technique disappear , not succeeded to any young people.

We couldn’t do it.
Cried with staffs and talked about what we can do for them all night.



Finally we made a decision.

KUDEN reborn as “ethical brand” that think and think thoroughly about work environment people involved with our produce like sewing and fabric production and effects on nature.

The name “KUDEN” is from “口伝” in Japanese.
This means “ tell to someone by mouth, teach and instruct.”

The reason I named KUDEN to my brand contains a wish “ KUDEN something we want to tell to our close people.”

I don’t want to put clothes made by sacrificing someone on my son I really love.

I don’t want to pay my money to clothes made by sacrificing someone, if even it’s a high brand, it designed by famous people and cool one.

Because I can’t live with feeling ashamed to my son.

“Ethical” is the word that express those feelings and activity by customers.

“Ethical”
Directly meaning is moral action or thinking.

KUDEN practice proactively for our “Ethical”, considers deeply to nature and place and life of people support our produce.

Already “Ethical” is expanded in the world, as social problem but their actual situation is thread and thrum in fact.

Even the fast fashion brands, lead a mass-products and mass-disposal till now, say “We go to Ethical” for business, even if it’s a actually not ethical enough. It has a big self-contradiction.

About ethical, there are a lot of the way to think and approach so we can say also there is no exact answer like “this is the ethical.”

So we must continue to lean, think what is the ethical and practice.

Read to this point,
who think to cut the fast fashion clothes you already have,
Please wait and stop your hand.

When you buy a new one, I and you never buy clothes made by sacrificing someone.
It’s a certainly so, those clothes are made by sacrificing someone,
but we can say that clothes you already have is made by spending someone’s blood and life so taking good care of them and wearing until we can’t wear is also ethical, I think.

As our important mind, we hold up the Ethical considering nature and work environment and design the new fashion has concept “Ethical + Mode.”

Instead of you customers, we study if the fabric and sewing is good for nature and working people etc., provide products with those information.
Those are our job and mission.
I promise we share the information with transparency as much as you customer can make a judgement by yourself.

And I name this “Ethical + Mode” fashion “Samurai Mode” after Japanese samurai protects their precious people.


We continue to try and make efforts for customers enjoy this Samurai mode and when KUDEN grow up , we hope to employ people worked at Marron again.
Having own factory is very difficult challenge for business.
Even one of the most famous brand Everlane doesn’t have, outsource manufacturing.
Because it’s a low business risk for brand.

We KUDEN keep trying, challenging to the way of new fashion and consumption with you customers.

I appreciate you continuous support.

KUDEN by TAKAHIRO SATO
Designer
TAKAHIRO SATO


**References**
Open new window, other website.

2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse
...English wikipedia about Lana Plaza

The true cost
...official site of the movie about what is the true cost for product.


Notification
●We renewal our mail magazine and blog with 2 concept “Ethical + Mode” and “KUDEN something we want to tell to our close people.”
It may start from June, we’re glad if you’re looking forward.

We’ll make an announcement on mail magazine, web site and SNS.


●Stock of Samurai Mode Jacket on our web shop is the last work by Marron. It’s stock only. By all means please touch by your hand and feel their wonderful sewing work.

*We print their company name on our Landry label with respects for their work. 



▼Samurai Mode Jacket is the last work by Marron.

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