Kuden Project Platform by Takahiro Sato Wins the A' Design Award in Social Design

Takahiro Sato acknowledged for social design by the international grand jury of the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 23, 2020 /DesignNewswire/ Kuden Project Platform by Takahiro Sato, designed for KUDEN by TAKAHIRO SATO, has been granted the A' Design Award in the Social Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2019 - 2020 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

The A' Design Award Explained

The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.

More About Kuden Project Platform

Next Kimono platform is not only product but also has a role as social design to solve 2 social issue: Disappear Japanese traditional kimono culture and Lost high sewing technique for Japanese and Western. For easy to take kimono in daily life, it consists of 3 items. People wear both fullset as kimono and single with their usual outfit as daily clothes. As a trigger to wear it in world's daily life, Next Kimono makes demand for traditional one and jobs at fair wages for sewing factory. Final goal of Kuden is employment of disabled people include CEO's son.

About Takahiro Sato

After losing his first company because he collapsed from overwork, he lives separate from his son who has autism and intellectual disability. To create a place where he work with his son, he started KUDEN by TAKAHIRO SATO. He called himself rookie designer first time at 43 years old. As a designer, his first product is Samurai Mode Series and first fashion brand for him. His brand is also social design considered especially working environment. Because he doesn’t want his son to wear the fashion at the expense of others and also never wanted to archive the employment of people with disabilities by other’s expense.

Award Record

With this recognition, Takahiro Sato is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Social Design Award

The A' Social Design Award is an international design competition recognizing excellence in social design by social impact designers and think-tanks worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to social designers, social brands, social manufacturers and social design professionals from all countries. Typical entries include community projects, social campaigns, public installations, educational programs, sustainable initiatives and healthcare solutions. The awarded social designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/social

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/100013
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/100013
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!100013
Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/268040
Further Information from the Laureate: https://ku-den.jp/

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Kuden Project Platform
Function: Platform
Category: Social Design
Discipline: Communication Design
Industry: Social Impact
Colors: Black, Dark Gray, Dark Slate Gray, Dim Gray and Lavender
Images: 5
Client: KUDEN by TAKAHIRO SATO

The Recognition

Laureate: Takahiro Sato
Country: Japan
Recognition: A' Design Award
Edition: 2019 - 2020
Design ID: #100013

Credits

Team: Asami Sato
Image Credits: Photographer: Nobuyuki Arai, Mance Thompson, Serene Mangmati, Takahiro Sato

Design Details

Unique Properties: KUDEN's Next Kimono platform is not only product but also has a role as social design to solve 2 social issues Disappear Japanese traditional kimono culture and Lost high sewing technique for both Japanese and Western. For easy to take kimono in daily life, it consists of 3 items. People wear both fullset as kimono and single with their usual outfit as daily clothes. As a trigger to wear kimono in world's daily life, Next Kimono makes demand for traditional kimono and jobs at fair wages for sewing factory.
Inspiration: When I sort through my mother's effects, I found her kimono. I remember my childhood kimono memory with mother and felt I want to wear kimono but can’t because I don’t know how to wear. I realized kimono culture will disappear if it keeps going. It’s my first inspiration. Also the reason I start brands, I have a son with disability and from my experience that involved in employment for disabled people, saw the product they make, I decided to make the place that people like my son works with joy.
Research: Focus on the fact that kimono is long life design & 1 design (fashion platform) continued 400 years ago in Edo period. I consider kimono as a platform, to make it suitable for modern daily life all over the world, I redesign as Next Kimono platform. To bring kimono now recognized as expensive clothes only for special day back to daily outfits. Wear without special technique, 3 piece set design to wear separately, actualize affordable price by adapting western dressmaking. Increase the demands of kimono, expand kimono market to the world, it connects to make interests for traditional kimono and Wasai (Japanese dressmaking) .
Challenge: Most difficult challenge is redesign as western dressmaking remaining attracts of kimono. Also finding material and sewing factory that can actualize the shape by western dressmaking was difficult. In addition, put high value how we are as brand, without lie to customer so we show the cost to customer for they understand how/what/to who their payment is used for.
Realization and Technology: Nowadays kimono is known all over the world but on the other hand, the scale of Japanese kimono market is 1/10 compared to 35 years ago. Disappearing kimono as usual outfits, most Japanese can’t wear kimono by themselves.Also special technique to sew Kimono, Japanese dressmaking called Wasai is despairing. We need a policy to expand kimono market and make more demands of kimono and also remove the obstacle to wear kimono in daily life. So I design Next Kimono, no need special technique to wear, as new kimono platform and adopt custom order to consider working environment.
Operation and Interaction: Next Kimono platform is a trigger to experience kimono in daily life and like it. To actualize it, Next Kimono doesn’t need special technique to wear, can wear 3 piece as kimono and also single with ordinary outfits. It makes it to wear and go in kimono for more opportunities. Redesign kimono but also remain the attracts of kimono like Miyatsuguchi, unique sleeve shape. Also Next Kimono platform is 1 design and long life design, it means we don’t follow the trends. It has a function to improve the working environment and efficiency of production and finance because the sewing factory can continue to sew same pattern, it means they accumulate the technique and increase their skills.
Project Duration and Location: First publish is on Kickstarter in November 2018 and produced Jacket first time in January 2019. Our partner sewing factory Marron went bankrupt in May 2019 and temporarily stopped production. It made our brand to go more Ethical brand and realize the importance of social design. KUDEN publish our cost to customer and keep 40-50% cost rate. In December 2019, released Pants.
Specifications: Next Kimono is consists of 3 items. The social design to expand kimono to the world. Design and material are selected for suitable to daily life all over the world.Samurai Mode Jacket, Samurai Mode Pants and Samurai Mode Shirt, it's Next Kimono Platform. Samurai Mode Jakcet(M size): Face side:triacetate69%,polyester31%/Lining:cupra100%/shoulder width:72cm/Sleeve length:38cm/Body length:82cm/Sleeve hem width:21cm/Sleeve width:43cm The material of jacket is Soaron made of triacetate. In 1967, Japanese company Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation produced the Soaron first time. From then, Soaron is always caught the eye of creator because that makes creativity higher.
Keywords: social, traditional, kimono, apparel, branding, fashion, ethical, platform, solution