Anything × Robinson

Toyohashi, Japan · Robinson originals

Robinson original

Pouches and sleeves in maekake canvas, designed by Robinson with Anything, the only Japanese house specialising in the maekake apron, which weaves in Toyohashi on century-old shuttle looms.

The craftsmanship of a Japanese workshop, art direction by Robinson.

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Origin

Toyohashi, Japan

Anything × Robinson in detail

The Anything workshop in Toyohashi, its shuttle looms and its noren

縁 + ing

Anything, “everything is born of encounters”

Anything is enishi – the bond, the encounter – and “ing”: “everything is born of encounters between people”. Kazuhiro Nishimura, born in Hiroshima in 1973, left Ezaki Glico and founded the company in Tokyo in November 2000 to sell kanji T-shirts on the streets of Harajuku. His encounter with the artisans of Toyohashi, the last region in Japan still producing maekake, changed everything: “if we stop, the Japanese maekake will disappear”. In 2004 the first Anything maekake, “Shokunin Spirit”, was released, and the house became the only shop in Japan specialising in the maekake.

After exhibitions in New York, London and Paris – Maison & Objet from 2020 – Anything opened its own factory in June 2019 in Futagawa, in the city of Toyohashi, to take over the looms of a workshop that was closing down. Nine employees, a shop in Shinjuku Gyoen, an office in Paris since 2024, and a “Mount Fuji” maekake glimpsed in No Time to Die, the 2021 James Bond film. In 2023, the Japanese Ministry of Economy listed it among the 100 textile companies preparing the next generation.

Indigo maekake tied with its red and white obi

前掛け

The maekake, the apron that supports your back

The maekake is the traditional Japanese work apron, tied around the waist by rice merchants, sake brewers and grocers. Its origins go back to the 15th century; it took its current form in the Edo period, and from the Meiji era onwards the name of the shop was dyed onto it: it became both a uniform and an advertising medium. In post-war Toyohashi, up to 10,000 maekake a day left the workshops.

A rectangle of thick cotton, two red and white cords, and a great deal of wisdom: tied tight across the hips, the maekake supports the lower back – “with a maekake, you don't hurt your back, at any age” – and protects clothes and legs from heat and knocks. The red and white obi echoes the vermilion of torii and daruma: a lucky charm for the prosperity of the business.

Toyota shuttle loom weaving maekake canvas in the Anything workshop

100年前のシャトル織機

Century-old shuttle looms

The exceptionally thick yarn is spun in Osaka, then woven in Toyohashi on nine Toyota, Suzuki and Enshu shuttle looms that are 80 to 100 years old – the “N” loom invented by Sakichi Toyoda in 1914, Michio Suzuki's from the 1920s – adjusted every day according to temperature and humidity. A single small motor drives ten looms: a frugal use of energy that attracts attention even from abroad.

The result is a canvas that is thick yet supple, with woven selvedges, and softens with use. With master craftsman Haga, Anything revived in 2011 the “No. 1” canvas of the 1960s, woven from yarn twice as thick: it is this fabric, the thickest in the workshop, that we chose for our sleeves and pouches.

Anything × Robinson laptop sleeve carried under the arm

ラップトップスリーブ

The laptop sleeve

After years of friendship with Nishimura-san, we decided to launch our own products with Anything. For this sleeve, we chose the thickest maekake fabric, which guarantees durability and a beautiful texture, and incorporated the emblematic maekake belt to mark the link with the brand's historic products.

The inside is padded to cushion your belongings and lined with scratch-resistant cotton. The zip opens along the top and down the side, which makes it easy to slide in a laptop. Three colours: navy, green and black.

ペンポーチ

The pen pouch

After a decade spent travelling the world in search of exceptional pens, we designed the ideal pouch for carrying your favourite writing instruments everywhere.

The same thick maekake fabric, and the emblematic belt ingeniously repurposed to hold your pens in place inside the pouch: practical, and deeply rooted in tradition. We had the chance to visit the Toyohashi workshop with Nishimura-san; that is where everything is still woven.

In pictures