Kyoko Hashimoto Studio

-: feel me baby :-

kyoko — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:07:59 +0000

In between working on orders + enjoying the sunshine at the lakes with some sneaky glasses of Prosecco, I have been making some new designs. This piece is made of hand-formed brass with tactile sponge set in the center. Measures 55 x 55 x 15 mm on long brass chain. I want to make some different colour variations later.

We had some lovely visitors to our showroom recently. Lina from A Spoon Full of Me (thanks for the blog feature!), Julia from PRYL Design, and Bijoux Miss Tinguette. They are all creative designers / bloggers, best wishes to you all and thanks for visiting our showroom

Final Week!

kyoko — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:20:40 +0000

Last week of July sale, thank you to all who placed an order so far! A few new prototypes are added to the webshop. This one is hand cut / carved on blackened sterling silver chain.

Happy Month of July!

kyoko — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:38:52 +0000

A lot can happen in a month. Guy has been accepted into a PhD degree at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney, and considering I have been away from my home base for almost 5 years, we decided it was time to relocate the studio back to Australia at the end of August. So, we are having a huge relocation sale, reducing up to 30% off most items from my webshop until the 31st of July. I will be putting up some new items including one-off pieces on to my webshop in the next coming week, so grab yourselves a bargain!

In other news, we have been receiving some lovely press here in Europeland! A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by the London based Amelia’s Magazine. Here is a link to the interview. Big thanks for this goes to our wonderful PR girl Saleema from Brocade Agency. And here’s a plug by Alicia from the glossy H Magazine in Spain. Thank you!

Plus a very cool double page spread in Fashion Clash 2010 magazine, which was released in conjunction with the event by the same name in Maastricht, Netherlands. (June 4th -6th) Thanks for this goes to the curator Matylda Krzykowski, I heard that the event was a mega-success!

Dark Blossom

kyoko — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:05:20 +0000

I saw this one in a dream 2 nights ago. Hand-cut in oxidised sterling silver + acrylic. 35 x 28 x 7 mm.

toby ring

kyoko — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:55:25 +0000

Berlin showroom: now open!

kyoko — Sun, 30 May 2010 22:03:26 +0000

Our concept studio / showroom We Are All Made of Stuff opened earlier this month. The space was designed and created over the past 4 weeks by myself, Guy, and Christoph Hager of Berlin Süd. There were many discussions, even arguments, between the three of us; punctuated by numerous cups of tea and expressions of agreement. It was a rewarding experience and I am very proud of the final result. Here are some pictures taken by the talented photographer Claudia Frickemeier.

The thread curtain which loosely divides the room suspends adjustable platforms. This creates a separation of space; a place to display the jewellery: for visitors, and a place to work: for us. The division is quite tangible as visitors do not feel like they are intruding on our work space. The curtain is very light and delicate, it is also possible to pass through it at many points, or even remove the platforms and tie back the curtain, to open the space for parties and events.

Here is a list of designers we show:

From Australia, Guy Keulemans, Make Believe, Anneliese Hauptstein + myself.
Berlin designers: Susanne Schmitt, Klein Corpse, A&Re and Puncture.

We are open for the next few months, please come visit us if you’re in Berlin this summer. We Are All Made of Stuff is located on Friedelstrasse 11, in the Reuterkiz district, Neukolln, Berlin.

So, does size matter?

kyoko — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:32:11 +0000

A ring for Ursula: hand cut + dyed acrylic with sterling silver rivets.

+ a baby Toby pendant. Oxidised sterling silver with hand-dyed sponge balls. I made a similar piece some weeks ago, but in brass, and the size was much bigger. About 3 times. I wore it out a few times and got tonnes of positive comments from Aussie and American friends, but not much from the Germans. I thought it was peculiar. Some time later, Susanne, a Berlin based jeweller proposed that I should make my pieces smaller, that this would make them more attractive. I thought about it for a while. It is true, you don’t see many Germans fashioning so called “statement jewellery”. In fact, the fashion here in general is very unpretentious and what I would call “minimalistic grit”. When I went to see a talk by Scott Schumann, fashion blogger from NY “the Satorialist”, he suggested this may be in part due to the fact that Germans, and Northern Europeans in general are so naturally beautiful they deliberately down-play their fashion?!?!

I’m not sure if I agree, but nonetheless, it’s a fascinating thought. For me, I have certainly noticed that different pieces from my own collections are popular in different countries. Small pieces tend to be more popular here, whereas back home in Australia and UK, bigger, bolder pieces are more sought after. Is it just to do with practicality? Or is there something more ingrained within each society, like religion, politics and cultural tendencies?

Press’n News

kyoko — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:35:18 +0000

I received my copy of CUT Magazine today. Woo hoo! Now I just need to have the article translated from German to English… I think the subtitle translates to something like “earning bread by sucking sugar…!” haha, I’m sure there’s a better translation.

We have been very busy indeed, Guy and I are opening a shop / studio on Friedelstrasse in Kreuzkölln over the coming summer called “We Are All Made of Stuff”. It will be a showroom for our own work, as well as a platform to display works of our talented friends from around the globe.

There’s still much work to be done, but it’s slowly coming together. I will need to do something about the graffiti on the facade… but this is very “Berlin” and I don’t think there are many houses along the street that isn’t covered in it. Suppose it adds character? Anyhow, never mind the graffiti, I am terribly excited about having a window display! For the moment, I have put together an impromptu pieces of old furniture and timber I found on the streets, but I want to design something much prettier soon. More photos soon.

snap your fingers

kyoko — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:47:41 +0000

One very nice thing about being a self-employed designer is that you have time to sit down with a cup of coffee, away from all the usual distractions and really reflect. Here are some of my recent concerns: feeling stagnant, too familiar and predictable, overwhelming urge to break out of a shell I have created for myself.

So this time, I decided to make something quite new, a different approach. Without short-cuts, without being bound by technical problems and really thinking about how it can be constructed so it’s visually resolved. Each brass component was hand-cut from a sheet metal then formed > soldered > polished > riveted. The thickness I wanted for the design was 6mm, and I only had 3mm acrylic, so I had to cut all the acrylic components twice to double the thickness. I hand dyed the green acrylic and the sponge ball. The whole piece took me almost 2 days to complete it… was it worth it? I think so. I think I definitely learned something about the beauty of things that are carefully considered and constructed. No short-cuts, no magic wand. Just sheer determination, dedication and patience. I will subject it to the usual “2 week test” to see how I feel later. I don’t think it’s perfect yet, but I think there’s definitely potential for further development :)

One a very different note, Guy and I are opening a pop-up store here in Berlin! We are moving into the shop-front apartment in north Neukolln from the 1st of April, and will be decorating the space into shop / workspace, hopefully with the help of some architect friends. I am so incredibly excited! We are planning for an official opening for sometime in end of April. I will post some pictures + more information about the shop soon.

.: tap your heels :.

kyoko — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:36:28 +0000

I have been bitten by the “facet bug”. Last Saturday, I really felt like wearing a pair of white studs… and here is the result a couple of hours later. The facets are hand carved so completely random. I like it as it references traditional facets on gems, but the lack of symmetry and order make it a little more interesting. I’m doing some other designs using illustrations of gemstones. I’ll try to post them here soon.