"Shakumoto Sewing"The sewing factory specializing in neckties
"Shakumoto Sewing" is the factory specializing in make neckties, was established in Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture in 1968. Tsuyama City has been the castle town of Tsuyama Castle since ancient times, and even today, the remains of those days and the old townscape can be felt in this historic town.
Mr. Tatsuhiro Shakumoto, the third generation representative of Shakumoto Sewing, still operates a sewing factory in such a town. Before taking over the business as the third generation, Mr. Shakumoto was a hairdresser. However, when his mother's physical condition, he turned his attention to the family business and decided to take the baton of the business passed down from his grandmother to his mother, feeling strongly about his own roots.
The company was founded by the grandmother of the third generation representative, who started the business in a room in her home, where all of the company's internal processing began. At that time, the company took on a wide range of work, from buttoning shirts to sewing, and when asked to do so, it was able to handle even the most difficult deadlines and processes, leading to the workshop being called a "wizard" by those around it. Today, Tsuyama City, where Shakumoto Sewing is headquartered, is an area with a thriving sewing industry and an environment that fosters advanced sewing techniques, and the company is still contributing to the prosperity and development of the sewing industry together with the local community.
The city's sewing factories were mainly subcontracted to major companies, but around 2006, many simple sewing jobs were shifted overseas. In response to this change in social trends, Shakumoto Sewing began to take on new challenges by utilizing its own technology and past know-how, and shifted its focus to becoming a sewing factory specializing in neckties.
The beginning of making a tie
While there are many different types of sewn products, Mr. Shakumoto chose to specialize in neckties because of the fascination he felt with neckties as a child. He felt a strong yearning for an adult to wear a tie with a suit, and he still makes ties with the same desire to deliver what he felt was "stylish".
Shakumoto has learned the skills of sewing neckties from scratch on his own, and has further brushed up its accumulated skills to produce ties with unprecedented finishes, using world-famous silks such as Tango silk from Kyoto and Kaiki silk from Yamanashi as fabrics. Generally, neckties are made by specialized factories, so products made by factories that have different sewing techniques from those used for neckties have a unique suppleness and beauty. What is most important in making a beautiful product is that the craftsman always imagine the customer's face as they take the product in their hands, so that they do not forget to pay attention to every single step of the work.
In 2015, he created his own factory brand, "SHAKUNONE," in order to further convey his company's "craftsmanship" to consumers.