How Noriko Ishizaka and Hiromi Sasaki created Maison N.H Paris
Combining Parisian chic and Japanese precision, Maison N.H Paris’ handmade raffia accessories represent timeless summer style
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How Noriko Ishizaka and Hiromi Sasaki created Maison N.H Paris
Combining Parisian chic and Japanese precision, Maison N.H Paris’ handmade raffia accessories represent timeless summer style
Summer accessories have a talismanic quality. Whether it’s a beachy raffia bag that comes on holiday with you every year, or a beloved straw hat, these pieces represent a carefree escape from everyday life.
In 2015, Japanese designers Noriko Ishizaka and Hiromi Sasaki decided to take this feeling and transform it into a brand. From their base in Paris, they began designing a collection to transport the wearer to a sunnier state of mind, wherever they might be.
In founding Maison N.H Paris, the two friends also wanted to create a brand that would benefit not only their customers, but also the people behind the pieces. Over the years, Noriko and Hiromi have built close relationships with a team of skilled artisans in Madagascar and India, who create Maison N.H Paris’ timeless designs. Here we speak to the two women about their mission, and how they capture the spirit of summer in their work.
THE STORY OF MAISON N.H PARIS
What’s the story behind Maison N.H Paris?
Noriko: I met Hiromi through my non-profit, Hope and Love, which I founded in 2011 right after the Fukushima earthquake. She came in as a volunteer and we became friends. We had both worked for other people for several years, and wanted to create something of our own. We shared a love of travel and craftsmanship, so we chose to create a brand that blended these things with a modern sensibility.
Hiromi: We started out making espadrilles. The following year we began making raffia bags in Madagascar. Our Cercle bag sold amazingly well, and people began to notice the brand.
How would you describe the ethos?
Hiromi: We value our relationships with people and want to be a company that is useful to society. Supporting women to become self-reliant through local employment.
We regularly visit Madagascar and are in constant communication with our artisans to improve their working conditions and skills.
Noriko: We try to focus on value. We don't want it to be a competition of price, because our artisans and our team need to be paid fairly. Good quality needs time, especially because our products are handmade, one by one.
Describe the brand in an elevator pitch…
Noriko: Our brand is Parisian with a sprinkle of modern Japanese style. We respect craftsmanship, an area in which both French and Japanese people excel.
Hiromi: Travel, holidays, sun, wind, plants, scents, sun.
Can you tell us where and how you make your pieces?
Noriko: I have lots of small raffia pieces in our office. I mix those pieces like a puzzle to create new styles. Once the idea is finalised, I discuss how we can realise the design with my assistant and our artisans. Sometimes it happens in our office first, sometimes in our ateliers in India or Madagascar.
Hiromi: The raffia bags and hats are hand-crocheted by local women in ateliers in Madagascar. The leather collection, which we began with AW23, is made in an atelier in Chennai, India.
Can you discuss the artisanal element of Maison N.H Paris?
Noriko: Craftsmanship is one of the most important things in our work. Without artisans, we can’t create our products. It’s a kind of dialogue between me and our artisans to finalise design, and we try to appreciate their techniques in our design.
For the sustainability side of things, we offer a basic wardrobe - one bag or hat you can wear for years. Almost half of our collection is permanent styles. There are two reasons for this: one is because we believe our products are timeless, and the other is because we want to provide work for our artisans all year round.
Hiromi: I think handiwork has an imperfect charm, as no two pieces are the same.
In terms of the humanitarian side, we’re supporting women to become self-reliant through local employment.
Maison N.H Paris feels like summer. Why is this a continual inspiration for you?
Noriko: We’ve actually been doing a winter collection for a year now, but yes, we love summer for its vacation feeling. After all, who doesn’t like summer? I’ve been living in Paris for over 30 years, and we begin talking about the summer holidays in March!
What’s the best thing about working with a friend, and what skills do you both bring to the brand?
Hiromi: Sharing one another’s experiences and network.
Noriko: You’re never alone. At the beginning we designed together, but now we’ve established Maison N.H Paris’ style so clearly that each of us designs separately, and then we discuss things if we have any doubts. I focus on art direction and sales strategy, whereas Hiromi is more on the product side. Both parts are very important for the brand.
Which elements feel particularly Japanese or Parisian to you?
Noriko: The French side is the holiday inspiration, the natural element and the nonchalance. The Japanese side is about quality control and very simple, pure design.
Hiromi: Japanese precision combined with a Parisian sense of relaxation and balance.
What does success look like to you?
Noriko: When I see someone carrying our bag, I feel really grateful.
Hiromi: To be blessed with people and to live a spiritually happy life.
Maison N.H Paris
Rose Marie Grand Raffia Tote Bag
Maison N.H Paris
Cercle Grand Raffia Shoulder Bag
Maison N.H Paris
Milena Liberty Ribbon Raffia Hat
When are you at your most creative?
Noriko: I love to people-watch from a terrasse (I’m more Parisian than most French people…) Especially in an cosmopolitan area, where you see a lot of nationalities wearing their own traditional dress. Although it’s quite a predictable answer, I also love contemporary art, going to exhibitions and reading art books.
What are your three best tips for creativity?
Noriko: It’s a very bad habit that I want to change, but I’m a very last minute person! Often this sense of extreme urgency can give you creative power. Apart from that, having a good time with family and friends and not thinking about work or what you’re making.
Hiromi: Sleep, travel, music.
