Insight | Kei Shigenaga

26 Oct 2018 0

F: You learnt silversmithing while living in New York. Now that you are practicing your craft in Tokyo, have you begun to use any traditional Japanese techniques within your work?

KS: I lived in Boston for junior high and high school and I learned silversmith in New York, so I lived most of my life in America then I got more interested and wanted to learn more about Japanese unique cultures and traditions.

Currently, we started to work on kintsugi, which is the traditional Japanese methods to rebirth broken pottery with gold to give the scars a new life. We simply liked the looks of ceramics with kintsugi but also admired that Japanese tradition has found beauty in imperfections for a long time.

The inspiration I get the most is not from fashion, but other completely different fields. Our designs are mostly abstract, and it’s sometimes hard to tell the story behind the piece. However, we hope people like our collection with our thoughts inside.

F: How did yourself and Wataru Shimosato, the creative director of Kei Shigenaga strike up this unique connection?

KS: When I was studying silversmith in New York, my friend introduced me to Wataru. He was really into silver jewelry and gave me many suggestions that I would have never thought of through the process of designing and directing.

When I design, I tend to make a piece very dynamically, and he fixes the design down to the reality level where people can wear daily.

He has the essence that I could never have, and I have one thing that he can never have. These two different view leads to making our collection.

F: In a lot of Kei Shigenaga’s imagery, we see stacking and layering of juxtaposing pieces, when you create a collection do you envision how each piece will interplay with each other?

KS: When we make a new design, we do not really think about how each other interplay. It sometimes could lose the new ideas of making one of a kind and original compositions. We are always looking for something new.

F: Your pieces are bold and commanding, what do you strive to invoke in the wearer of your jewellery?

KS: We always liked the heaviness, when we put on jewelry. The feeling of the weight of precious metals is extraordinary and authentic. We make bold pieces, but most importantly, we chase the ultimate comfort of our jewelry as if your own body, and we hope the wearer feels it when they put it on.

F: What is the reason behind the high polished finish of your pieces?

KS: We polish some pieces, and when we do, it is going to be high polish. We believe that the ageing process by wearing from the perfectly clean surface makes individual faces, and that is a precious experience for the wearers to grow your pieces.