Takashimaya brings a Kyoto weaving house's Milan furniture debut home to three flagship stores

Takashimaya will sell CASA TATSUMURA, an interior line built with Kyoto weaving house Tatsumura Art Textile, at three of its stores this autumn: Osaka from September 23, Shinjuku from October 28 and Nihombashi from November 18, the department store said in a statement.

The two companies' relationship runs deep: Takashimaya acquired the clothing store once run by an uncle of Tatsumura's founder in 1898, and the brocade house's signature nishiki-obi (a formal woven sash) line has been sold exclusively through Takashimaya since it debuted at the company's inaugural exhibition in 1927. Tatsumura is now led by its fifth-generation head, Ikuo Tatsumura, who took the hereditary name Tatsumura Heizaemon.

CASA TATSUMURA itself premiered outside Japan, at a six-day showing during April's Milan Design Week that drew more than 12,000 visitors to the Maurizio Baldassari showroom, according to Takashimaya. The six-piece collection — designed by Akiko Kawamura of Eightablish and manufactured by furniture maker Karimoku — pairs Tatsumura's textiles with pieces including a floor lamp ("The An-Don"), a folding screen ("The Byou-Bu") and a low table ("The Gou-Buchi"), spanning entryway, living room, dining and bedroom settings.

The staggered rollout — one store at a time, six weeks apart — turns a single textile house's furniture line into three separate flagship events rather than one nationwide launch, the kind of sequencing department stores use to keep a heritage supplier's name in the press through the autumn selling season. It also puts a Milan Design Week credential ahead of the more familiar craft-revival pitch, letting Takashimaya sell the collection as contemporary design first and heritage textile second.