Fabric woven from fatherly love.Made so all can live their lives in comfort.

Kousaku Sano set up “ONELUCK”, his brand of underwear made from Japanese washi paper. The fabric is made so that it can be worn by anyone, including those with sensitive skin - so, what led him to this innovation?

Kousaku Sano

CEO of MIZANI Pty. Ltd.
Following a career in pattern making in the clothing industry, including experience at a pattern making agency and a mens’ outdoor clothing brand, Sano moved on to become an independent entrepreneur. Watching his son grow up with atopic eczema, he embarked on a journey to develop a new fabric that could be comfortably worn by those with sensitive skin - eventually discovering washi. Sano set up his brand ONELUCK following two and a half years of research.

One day, For Paris

I was born and raised in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kawanabe District (now the Minami-Kyushu City). My father was a carpenter, well-known amongst locals for being good at his trade.

Ever since I was little, I used to help him out at his work picking up scraps and rubbish at the building site. I was always the timid, quiet kid at school. But as I helped out my father and spent more time around adults, I think I picked up some social skills.

When I was in junior high school, I walked past a clothing alterations workshop on my way to school. They had their doors wide open while they worked, and I peeked inside. It was a man, probably in his forties, working on the machine. At the time, I had this preconceived image in my head - I had thought that sewing was primarily for women - now I was in wonder. That was the moment I also came to realise that craftsmanship extended beyond just carpentry.

I remember footage of major fashion shows, like Paris Fashion Week, being aired on TV. I learned that the fashion industry was more than just fixing and making clothes, but also designing - and I began to aspire that one day, I would make clothes to be showcased on that runway.

Inspired by my father who was a craftsman, I studied mechanical sciences at a technology high school, and learned to weld and design machines. Several corporations including automobile manufacturers approached me at graduation, but my heart was set on the fashion industry so I turned them all down. Naturally, my father got angry at me, worried for my future. This was the first time I told him, “I want to make clothes, like those worn by models in Paris”.

Realising how serious I was about my decision, my father advised me to speak to the school careers advisors “if I were to really pursue that career”. I proceeded to consult my teachers, who referred me to a sewing factory in Osaka. My father agreed, adding “You should experience dressmaking for yourself firsthand while you’re young” - and so I moved to Osaka.

Life, as myself

In Osaka, I worked on cutting fabric at the sewing factory. I had always perceived fashion as something much fancier, and started to feel reality dawning. Around the factory were colonies of tall buildings - something that, growing up in the countryside, I would never have been able to picture as a child. I dreaded, even feared continuing to work in an environment like that, spending my days following instructions. It all eventually got to me, and I resigned after a year or so.

I wanted to train and acquire some skills, and so I moved on to study fashion design at a vocational college. I studied the hardest in patterning. Patterning is the making of templates for clothes, and is an extremely important step in dressmaking.

Because I wanted to become a designer for clothes worn on that runway in Paris, I was eager to study patterning the most. At the college, we were given weekly assignments to hand in patterns for the clothes we designed. The assignment asked us to hand in patterns at a quarter size, but I nevertheless made them to scale. I was already a year behind everyone else, and I wanted to get to work as quickly as possible.

Graduation neared, but I had no idea what I was going to do afterwards. Nothing was set in stone and I spent my days in a depressive mood, when I met a man who worked as a stage director. He was elderly, older than 80, I think. When I explained to him what I was going through, he offered, “How about you make costumes for us?”.

It was around two months since I started working for him, when he said to me, “Ever since the day I turned 80, I spend every night thinking about death” “How well you lived your life will appear on the faces of those looking into your casket”.

Being words from the very person who had helped me, I took them to heart and started to think about my life more seriously than ever before. I came to realise that I constantly behaved according to how others might see me. So instead I said to myself, “I’m going to make the clothes I want for myself, I can’t afford to worry about others”.

I made clothes for him for around 2 months, but their warehouse was already packed with many costumes and there was no need for them to be renewed. The man had felt sorry for me, young and jobless, and that was why he picked me up. I quickly figured that staying would only cause financial pressure on him, and would not add to my experience - so I started looking for other jobs.

Time with Family

After working as an assistant to a pattern maker for a year, a classmate of mine from college contacted me. He said, “I’m planning to set up a new clothings brand - would you like to come and work with me as a pattern maker?”. This classmate was a great designer, and I was flattered that someone like him had chosen me. I decided to move on and take this opportunity, since I was wanting to work with someone like him for my own growth, someone so full of talent and taste.

I was the only pattern maker at my new workplace, so I worked hard. I arrived first thing in the morning every day, and finished up at 1am. I took part in a wide variety of work - ranging from developing new clothes, to being the production manager for one of their lines. Moving on from being an assistant and becoming an autonomous pattern maker had given me the challenges necessary to develop my skills, and blessed me with the confidence I needed.

I spent the following 6 years working there and I moved onto a different company, again as a pattern maker. The brands produced by the new company had a very unique flair to them. Best of all, they were a part of Milan Fashion Week in Italy, and had clothed the models on that runway I dreamed of as a child time and again.

It was my dream job, and so I worked even harder than I did before. A few years into my career there, I was in a relationship. I intended on marrying her. But I always prioritised my work - I rarely got the time to see her, and any plans of going on a date would end up with me being constantly late and her being upset. I had started to seriously think about the necessity of a balanced lifestyle.

In the past, I only needed to focus on myself and what I wanted to do. But now, I needed to look at my life beyond just work.

I quickly realised the difficulties in adapting my work schedule around my personal life within the industry. It did not take long for me to decide to become independent. Upon making this decision, I opened a notebook and proceeded to write down all the personal strengths I could come up with. I came to realise that the most valuable thing I could bring was my skills as a pattern maker developed from years of experience. So at 35 years old, I set up MIZANI Pty. Ltd. - where we make patterns tailored to our clients’ needs.

Seeking safer fabric, for children

During the early days of the company, I had to work hard to consistently meet our clients’ requests. The first year was especially rough. But I quickly realised that relying on a client-based service may be unstable, leading to inconsistent revenue. To change this, I needed to have our own brand, and be in a market where I had more control.

Amidst all of this, at the age of 38, my first son was born. He was born with atopic eczema. He would always be scratching his skin, and often I would wake up with bloody marks on his face and neck as he continued scratching overnight, even in his sleep. Watching him that way, I thought “He can’t live a happy life with a smile”. Time spent scratching his skin or being distracted by discomfort would only take away from the happy moments of his life.

And so I embarked on developing fabric for those with atopic eczema, or otherwise sensitive skin. The paediatrician recommended using cotton, but my professional experience told me that there must be a better material out there, so I continued to search.

That was how I came across washi paper. Not only does washi have antimicrobial properties, but it is also able to mask odours and is very absorbent. At the time, it had been used as material for bags, but were deemed unsuitable for clothing as it was rigid.

I proceeded to search for a way to make it suitable for clothing, and found a company whose research involved creating thread from washi paper for clothing. I decided to jointly embark on this journey. As for the costs, I decided to have it crowdfunded - with the hope of also marketing our new brand.

Transforming washi fibres into something soft enough to be used for underwear was far more difficult than I had originally imagined, and it was a process of trial and error. I had initially projected to spend one year on research, which ended up being two, until I finally succeeded in creating this fabric.

And so the brand providing washi-based underwear, ONELUCK was born.

When I finally managed to achieve my goal, I was relieved: But at the same time, it was dawning on us that the battle had only begun. Producing thread from washi involved more steps compared to other materials, and the cost of production was much higher. It’s only a little less costly than cashmere. Unless people understood the true value of the material, no one was going to buy it.

Weaving fabric for the smiles

I am currently the CEO of MIZANI Pty Ltd. Our operations mainly involve the sale of ONELUCK, a brand of underwear made from washi-derived fabric, and making patterns upon request from our clients. As for ONELUCK, I believe its success depends on our reach to consumers, so I would like to further increase exposure - starting with sharing my story.

In our pattern-making operations, I strive to work with our clients’ visions for their brands, discussing their directions and the ambiance their clothings are intended to create. I feel that our clients and their customers are the happiest when we work together.

I do our work in a variety of ways - sometimes our clients already have specifications of the design, and other times they come to us with ideas, so I can weave a design together. Especially when talking to a first-time client, I make sure to be as honest as possible with them. Down to the width of the stitches and the thickness of the strings, I make sure to present the best options to my clients from my professional experience.

I intend to expand my business internationally in near future. This is because, through interacting with individuals from different backgrounds, I can learn different perspectives and practices, directly incorporating diversity. It would be interesting and deeply satisfying to see diversity sprout in our company, and see new values arise from those experiences.

The aim of my business is to “put a smile on the face of many”. I do not just make clothes. I make the daily lives of the people wearing our clothes. And so I wish to weave clothing that allow those wearing them to feel happy, and for those with sensitive skin, especially those suffering from atopic eczema, to spend their time with a smile on their face by wearing ONELUCK. I wish to contribute to an environment where everyone is able to spend their lives in happiness and smiles.