Most umbrella fabric is printed. Makita Shoten's is woven — thread by thread, on Jacquard looms, using yarn dyed with water drawn from Mt. Fuji. The difference is visible at a glance. Printed fabric produces its pattern on the surface; woven fabric builds it into the structure, so color and form emerge from the interlacing of threads rather than anything applied afterward. Each umbrella takes three to four months to produce. Makita Shoten is the only manufacturer in the world to handle every stage — from weaving to final assembly — entirely in-house.
The company was founded 150 years ago in Yamanashi Prefecture as a silk wholesaler. For most of its history it operated as a subcontractor, weaving fabric on commission for other brands. After 2008, the sixth-generation director Yoichi Makita shifted course: develop original products, and build something that did not depend on the priorities of others. The technical challenge that defines the current work is a continuous pattern that crosses the triangular panels of an umbrella canopy without interruption at the seams — a calculation that must be made against the final three-dimensional form of the assembled object. No other manufacturer produces this at full scale.
