Kuro
Black on black.
Black on black. No pattern, no relief — only the shape.
Kuro is the wagasa reduced to its structure: twenty-four carbon fibre ribs under a canopy that gives nothing away. In the rain it disappears. In the sun it holds a circle of shade that belongs to you alone.
Technical woven canopy, water-repellent and rated UPF 50+. Individually numbered, with a certificate of authenticity.
Fifty pieces. Each numbered, each engraved, none repeated.
Why fifty?
Because fifty is what a first edition of the plainest thing should be. Kuro has no print to hide behind — it is the object and nothing else, and not everyone wants that. We would rather make fifty for the people who do than four hundred for the people who might.
Carbon architecture
Steel bends and stays bent. Aluminium fatigues. Carbon fibre does neither — it flexes under load and returns to where it started, which is what you want from twenty-four ribs in a gust. It is also why the whole object weighs 340 grams.
Woven protection
UPF 50+ is the highest rating a fabric can carry — at least 98% of ultraviolet blocked. Ours is woven, not sprayed on top, so it does not wear off with use. The same shell sheds rain: water beads, runs off, and the canopy dries in minutes.
