THE ART OF FUROSHIKI

L'ART DU FUROSHIKI

I remember arriving in Japan years ago and noticing, as we entered our hotel, that a crowd of breathtakingly beautiful Japanese women, clad in stunning Kimonos, were holding what seemed to be folded pieces of colorful fabric containing objects of various sizes and shapes; we were told by our guide that they were attending a traditional wedding ceremony and that the presents were wrapped according to the centuries old art of Furoshiki. As I begin on my last gift wrapping journey, the memory of those beautiful packages comes back to me, and I wonder if I should be that refined this year. Tempting. Maybe next year...

The Furoshiki is a piece of fabric varying in size according to what it envelops, and used specifically to wrap an object, an article of clothing or a present.

Its use dates back to the Japanese Edo era (XVIIth century). Back then, it was used to wrap the clothes to be worn at the public baths (Furo means bath in Japanese)

To this day, the tradition is still intact in certain neighborhoods of Kyoto. The Furoshiki is a sign of Japanese refinement: wrapping something to protect it and transport it, but to do so in a magnificent fabric. The content then becomes as special as the container. To wrap an object in a pretty Furoshiki is to give importance to the object; and it's even more true when it holds a present.

Furoshiki cut in the finest Kimono crepe

A modern interpretation with a gift card, a nod to our own gifting tradition

A Furoshiki cut in Origami paper( another superb traditional Japanese Art)

A laptop cover mimicking a Furoshiki by the Japanese company Seto.

images via google

sayonara.