K. Cooper's blog, hoping for happy accidents, is a goldmine of amazing Japanese modern woodworking and artisanal everything. Most of it's just eye candy, though, since these tiny little companies and stores often don't ship outside Japan.
But K.C.K. reminded me of one Japanese artist whose stuff you can get right here. If "here' is Manhattan, that is. Makie [mah-key-eh] is Yuji Ogata's little baby and kids clothing shop in SoHo, the good part, Thompson between Prince and Spring.
Makie's fall catalogue is posted online as one giant poster jpeg, so the beautiful, handmade details are kind of lost. The sheer awesomeness of that wool/fur/wtf baby vest, however, is visible a mile away.
Makie Clothier A/W 2007 Poster [makieclothier.com]
Previously: Makie Fleece Kimono for your little Jedi
There's more Makie goodness if you're handy with a sewing machine -- a kid's clothing sewing book called (I think) New York Kid's Style. It's found it on ebay from this vendor (with inside pictures)
It's also available on YesAsia and Amazon Japan, just harder to find if you don't read japanese. And since I don't, I can't tell you much more about it except that the clothes are modern, beautifully simple and run from size 6 months to size 3.
If anyone does read japanese or has a copy of the book too, I'd love to find out more about it and the Makie connection.
[wow, great find. that book, and the toddler companion book, are both by Makie's designer Yuji Ogata. Here's the Amazon Japan link for the 0-3yo book, New York no Kodomo no Fuku, and here's the 3-8yo version: New York no Kodomo no Fuku: 3-8yo. -ed.]