Raised in Kyoto, now based in Oxfordshire, Kumiko Kihara grew up surrounded by ancient temples, shrines, and a rich history of arts and culture. Traditional workshops filled the streets, and the simplicity of Japanese culture always intrigued her. Working first as a jewellery designer in Japan, where her projects included designing a brooch for a former Japanese Empress, Kumiko went on the study jewellery design in Barcelona, under Ramón Puig Cuyàs, and then in Pforzheim, Germany. Whilst there, she felt that the reliance on technology was causing a loss of tactile feeling. This led her to explore processes that could only be done by hand, which suited her designs and philosophy, where every hammer-strike and stretch of beeswax has meaning. Kumiko has exhibited her work at events including Goldsmiths’ North and at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. She recently received an eco-award from AGAATI Foundation, as well as a scholarship from QEST, which enabled her to learn the Mitsuro Hikime wax technique from a master in Japan.

The Whisper of Moonlit Flowers with You Collection is inspired by an English story (unknown) that Japanese author, Soseki Natsume, was asked to translate into Japanese. He encountered the sentence ‘I love you’, as a couple were strolling at night, and could not find a direct translation as Japanese people would not share this emotion so directly. Instead, he translated it to ‘The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?’ This implies, as a term of endearment, ‘I would love to see this moon again with you’. The story was written about 150 years ago (Meiji era), when Japanese people were more conservative, but it is an extremely romantic tale. Going for a stroll on a beautiful night, the mist falling gently onto the flowers and leaves, and the moon appearing kindly in the night sky casting a subtle glow on the petals of the flowers, was the moonlit scene that Kumiko Kihara wanted to share through her collection.