wabi sabi: my design language

What is wabi sabi?

According to Wikipedia, wabi sabi is in traditional Japanese aesthetics, a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. Sometimes described as beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". As a brand and product, Edie Kahula Pereira (aka Specialty Dry Goods) celebrates this beauty of imperfection.

Our aesthetic is handcrafted, somewhat quirky and always wabi sabi. Wabi Sabi is not only a design characteristic. It is also my design language. I leave my personal handprint on every single bag I make. What that handprint is is never planned. Each bag has its own personality. 

Wabi Sabi as a design element.

Leather has natural irregularities of surface and variations in grain. These distressed surfaces are inherent to a/the hide. No leather is close to being perfect or uniform in its surface appearance. I select and purchase hides for these natural irregularities because I like the added texture to the visual appearance and the tactile quality of the bag. Ultimately, each design has its best type of leather and color. Not meant to be woo woo but each design tells me which leathers it wants to be made in. 

Wabi Sabi as a Design Language-- The leather we use.

All leather used is made from cowhide. Leather is a natural product with its unique markings and grainy texture. Because of this, there will be some sort of variation in the leather used for Edie Kahula Pereira leather products. Dyed leathers will most likely have a (slight) variation in color.

All materials used to make Edie Kahula Pereira products are cut by hand using a rotary cutter, scissors, and ruler. Other tools used-- awl, leather punch, pins and needles, and sewing machine. All dimensions noted are to be considered approximate and not exact (because a human is doing the work, not a machine).