C.P. Company and Sashiko Gals Pay Tribute to Japanese Tradition

In Otsuchi, a small coastal town in Japan scarred by the 2011 earthquake, a group of 15 women aged between 40 and 80 formed what would become the Sashiko Gals. United by both survival and craft, they dedicated themselves to reviving sashiko, an ancient stitching technique once used to reinforce and prolong the life of fabric. Over the past decade, their collective practice has grown beyond preservation, expanding into sneakers, garments, and objects that carry the dual weight of tradition and renewal.

Now, the Sashiko Gals have reunited with C.P. Company for their second collaboration — a project that breathes new life into the Italian label’s archive. From 1980s military jackets to early-2000s knitwear, the women layer intricate stitching over decades-old garments, reanimating them with new textures, raised patterns, and tactile details. The result is not just clothing, but a form of storytelling stitched directly into the fabric, each thread binding Japanese heritage to European subcultural history.

This collaboration is more than a fashion exercise; it is a meditation on endurance. What began as a technique of necessity — reinforcing garments to last through hardship — is now a symbol of resilience, connecting communities across continents. By transforming C.P. Company’s classics with sashiko’s unmistakable handwork, the collective redefines what it means for clothes to have memory, lineage, and second lives.