The beauty of the haute couture stole satisfies one’s heart at the tranquil salon.
Haute couture stoles using rare antique laces and top quality silks and velvets can be found at VINITIQUE’s salon, situated inside the vintage apartment of Tokyo’s Harajyuku district. The comfortable atmosphere with Le Corbusier’s white sofa allows visitors to feel as if they are visiting their friend’s house. The producer of the haute couture stole is Mica Seguchi.
The stoles on display are marvelous, but the visitor’s breath is taken away when Seguchi opens her salon’s closet, where her stoles are sorted by colours. The visitors are brought to pleasure to hear about the stories behind each laces and silks, while picking them up in their hands. Over 50 stoles, dresses and accessories are on display at all times, and are able to purchase or custom order at the salon. The stoles are designed by Mica Seguchi.
A stole combined with linen woven by ultra fine yarn and silk lace that is impossible to find anymore.
A marvelous stole with ostrich feathers arranged on both sides of the lace.
Their clutch bags using rare laces and silks are popular. A great amount of time and effort by skilled craftsmen are required for this work.
My wish is to protect the beautiful European laces and Japanese silks from disappearing.
“The laces from Italy and France, hemps from Yamanashi, velvets from Fukui, silks from Kanazawa. There is always a great pleasure when coming across with these great materials”. Most of these materials cannot be purchased anymore. “The touch of the silk lace is magnificent but delicate. Lately, nylon and cotton are often used, since they are easier to come in hand and to maintenance. If there is a material that I am pleased with, I will purchase all the stocks they carry, since most of the time these materials will disappear after their current stock”
The top quality velvets with the craftsmen’s pursuit of marvelous sheen are produced in Fukui. The sheen of the velvet is often compared with jewelleries.
The drawstring bags are popular for using at parties and coordinating with kimonos.
The materials that are made in Japan, such as silks, hemps and velvets are also very rare, and only the top quality materials are selected. It is often thought that the quality of velvets are better in Europe, but this isn’t always true. “The Japanese velvets are better when making stoles and dresses, compared to the velvets made in Germany and Italy. At the same time, there is also a hard truth of lower cost and use of synthetic fabric with durability demanded by the market. It is a pity to see these craftsmen closing their businesses due to not having a successor”
Seguchi is observing the warp thread made at the workshop in Yamanashi. “The origin of my motivation comes from the time interacting with the craftsmen”
My stole creation started from discovering the real wealth in Bordeaux.
It was 2006, when Seguchi moved to Bordeaux and opened her atelier to create her stole. “I was supporting my husband’s work before visiting Bordeaux. I had always wished to live overseas and visited many places, and Bordeaux was the city I liked. Bordeaux have prospered for a long time through wine trades. The city have elegant architectures together with their rich nature. I lived for 10 years at the south of Bordeaux, where the weather is beautiful and people are pleasant”
A photo taken during Seguchi’s stay in Bordeaux.
The combination of linen and ostrich feathers. The linen is made in Italy. The quality of the texture and colour can be recognized at a glance.
It had always been a pleasure for Seguchi to wear dresses at Bordeaux. She purchased the dresses when she was inspired by their fabrics and craft-works. But there was a time when she had to dispose the party dresses that she had cherished. Seeing the laces and beads that were still beautiful, Seguchi couldn’t bear to dispose the dress. She decided to keep them by creating a stole using the dress. This became the opportunity for her to make stoles.
Seguchi doesn’t have a professional education in fashion, but she had loved fashion since she was little, through reading fashion magazines and wearing high end fashion brands. She enjoyed wearing the fashion in trend, but as soon as her life in Bordeaux started, her way of thinking changed. “Tradition still remained in Bordeaux and it was well established. By watching the people in Bordeaux, you can see their way of life and thinking. I became to like their way of style. In my case, living in Bordeaux was better than living in Paris”. These experiences cultivated Seguchi’s taste and aesthetic. In 2014, her current salon in Harajyuku started. Currently, celebrities and fashion connoisseurs from around the world visit her salon.
Seguchi’s cheerfulness and her big smile fascinates the salon visitors.
Believing that work with pride will open the doors of future craftsmanship
A collaboration project with Diane Claeys, the world renown antique lace collector and appraiser living in Nagano, is planned to be announced soon. “A project to give rebirth to the antique laces with my Japanese aesthetic will begin”. At first glance, one can easily feel that the stole using elaborate antique lace is special.
A new project to give a modern rebirth to the rare laces entrusted by Diane Claeys have just started.
Seguchi’s future dream is to support the people around her. “The reason why I am able to make stole is because the craftsmen exist. I can’t be happier if I could support these craftsmen so that they can continue with their work, arrange a project that they wish to work and take pride on, and don’t have to be tired of finding profitability. Our customers are also happy if they can feel that they are supporting these craftsmen. If everyone is happy, I am happy too. For all of this to happen, I wish to make this business grow”.
Mica Seguchi
Designer & Owner of VINITIQUE. Seguchi started creating stoles at her atelier in Bordeaux from 2006. She worked as a Translation Supervisor for the 2013 Guide des Meilleurs Cosmetiques and introduced the guidebook to Japan. In 2014, Seguchi opened her Haute Couture Stole Salon. She moved her base to Japan and officially launched the business in 2017. Her personal exhibition was held at Omotesando Spiral, announced her new collections at the Puff Collection in Hatsudai, and presented her dresses and stoles for WAKO Jewellery Exhibition in Ginza. Seguchi continues to expand her activities.