Lookbook from Portland: Crazy Wind
Crazy Wind, founded by designer Chiyo Takahashi, utilizes authentic kasuri textiles directly from Japan to produce modern clothing with a distinctly Japanese flair. Sourced from family-run factories in remote regions of Japan, kasuri textiles are a type of ikat fabric, dyed with indigo, that take about 2 months to create, all executed by skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. Chiyo, who was born in Japan but moved to America since she was a teenager, works with her mother to source the unique fabrics. The Crazy Wind name comes from a Japanese word “Fuukyo-“, which means insanity, a mad man or a person obsessed with his/her own art. The word “Fuukyo-“ is constructed with two characters, “Wind” and “Crazy”. Chiyo found a calligraphy drawing her late father made of “Fuukyo-“ while cleaning out a closet – and loved how he redrew the word “Wind” with an angry looking gorilla character. She writes that “It was as though [my father] was saying ‘Be crazy and go your own way!'”
