Novelty Book Service Co., Ltd., and Kanei Co., Ltd., Kentaro Kawasaki, Shigeto Tozawa, Masaaki Tomiji

Clan & Tartans of Scotland [textile sample books]

Tokyo: Novelty Book Service Co., Ltd., [1981]. 4 volumes, 17" x 14" (each), volume 1: 81 samples, volume 2: 77 samples, volume 3: 54 samples, volume 4: 67 samples. Includes a total of 279 labeled leaves, non-sequential, each with an 11.5" x 10" clan and tartan cloth plaid sample in names like "Melville," "Old Stewart Muted," "Ancient Hunting MacRae," "Hunting Lord of the Isles," "Dress Barclay," and "Princess Margaret Rose," to name a few. Colors are lively and fabric is largely in very good condition with minimal to no frays or damage on many samples. Bound with claw clamps in red plaid boards, gold stamping on covers and spine. Samples show signs of use; a dozen or more samples have pencil marks or notations in Japanese. Each page is labeled and numbered; 20 pages are missing from 1-299, 20 pages have been clipped for samples (clips range from dime-size to half-page), 5 samples are not present, 1 sample page is stuck to the verso of the predeceasing page. Each volume includes a stamp on the back cover for "Kanei Co., Ltd." along with their Tokyo address, telephone number, and date ([1981]). As a whole, the 4-volume set brilliantly displays Scottish plaids with relevant signs of use in the Japanese fashion and textile industries.  Item #2700

Born out of an initiative to forecast fashion trends in a slowing Japanese economy, “Novelty Book Service Co., Ltd.” was one of several group names involved in the “Fashion Technology Group” (FTG) composed of experts across the textile, apparel, and fashion industries. FTG was organized by Kentaro Kawasaki (known for Japanese fashion forecasting), and textile engineers Shigeto Tozawa (Asahi Kasei) and Masaaki Tomiji (Teijin) in 1976 in an effort to understand and predict consumer trends. “In a paper entitled ‘Looking for the Possibility of Fashion Prediction,’ published in 1976 in the journal of the Textile Machinery Society of Japan, Kawasaki explored the idea that an approach of mixing product life cycle, psychology, and sociology could help companies to predict the future.” As a new collaborative, FTG sought to scientifically measure the future of fashion. “They believed that mathematically processing a broad range of data on clothes (e.g., size, color, shape) and demographics (e.g., gender, age, income) would make it possible to design the right products.” The Clan & Tartans of Scotland textile sample books are a product of this initiative, bringing the west to Japan for study.

Source: The Fashion Forecasters: A Hidden History of Color and Trend Prediction (Blaszczyk & Wubs, eds.)

Source: The Formation of a Technology-Based Fashion System, 1945–1990: The Sources of the Lost Competitiveness of Japanese Apparel Companies (Cambridge University Press)

.

Price: $1,150.00