From vintage Japanese fabrics to modern fashion, each piece carries a story of the past.
The Beginning
Our Story
For nearly twenty years, I worked as a private school teacher, finding deep fulfillment in supporting children’s growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person classes became difficult, I returned to a longtime personal passion—sewing.
Through creating garments with vintage Japanese textiles, I felt a strong desire to share their beauty and stories with the world. That inspiration led to the birth of MOMOYO STOBY FASHION.
Today, alongside my teaching work, I upcycle vintage fabrics from across Japan into one-of-a-kind garments, bringing their timeless stories into modern life.
Timeless Quality from Japanese Vintage Textiles
Our Materials
Japanese antique and vintage fabrics are admired for their exceptional craftsmanship and lasting beauty. Even after decades, they remain strong, expressive, and full of character. The cotton textiles we use—especially traditional tenugui—are soft to the touch and grow more beautiful over time, developing depth and texture through wear and age.
Natural fading and color variation are part of what makes each piece special, giving vintage lovers a sense of authenticity and warmth that cannot be replicated.
One of a Kind, Rich with History
Stories Woven into Fabric
Tenugui fabrics are highly breathable, keeping you cool in summer and comfortable when layered in cooler seasons. Most vintage textiles are truly one of a kind, often hand-dyed with shop names, addresses, or phone numbers in distinctive lettering from their era.
These nostalgic details reflect the lives, culture, and stories of the people who once used them. Breathing new life into these fabrics—while honoring their history—is the foundation of our creative process.
Upcycling Vintage Textiles for a Sustainable Future
Our Message
Giving New Life to Timeworn Fabrics
Where Fading Becomes Beauty
Even vintage tenugui marked by fading or stains can be reborn through natural dyeing methods such as persimmon tannin (kakishibu). These processes add new depth, texture, and life to each fabric, allowing its character to evolve rather than disappear.
Distinctive designs from the Shōwa era (1926–1978)—featuring old shop names, addresses, and phone numbers—carry a sense of nostalgia and playfulness. Their retro lettering and imagery tell stories that gently connect the past with the present.
Wearing History, Creating New Value
Fashion That Connects People
Each garment is a one-of-a-kind fusion of time-honored materials and modern sensibility. By reviving vintage textiles as contemporary fashion, we transform history and memory into new value.
These pieces offer both familiarity and freshness, inviting smiles and harmony among people from different cultures and backgrounds. We believe fashion has the power to connect hearts beyond differences—and through upcycling, we carry that belief forward into the future.
Where Fabrics Meet, Stories Unite
Design Process
Vintage tenugui and antique textiles are often available only in small pieces, so multiple fabrics are carefully combined to create a single garment. Each design is thoughtfully composed—considering placement, balance, and how the stories of each fabric can resonate together.
When one fabric meets another, new harmony and expression emerge. Different memories from different times and places come together, forming a new narrative. These moments—when past and present connect through design—are at the heart of our creative process.
Once Vintage. Now the Spotlight.
Connection to Japanese Culture
My creations are rooted in the Japanese spirit of valuing and honoring things, embodied in the philosophy “Once Vintage. Now the Spotlight.” Each piece of vintage fabric carries the lives, memories, and care of those who came before, and giving it new life in a modern form reflects the cultural spirit of renewal and respect for the past.
Honoring the old while creating the new is at the heart of everything I make, and this cycle of reverence and reinvention inspires every garment.
Small Steps, Lasting Impact
A Message for Those Interested in Sustainability
Sustainability doesn’t have to start with something big. It begins with small steps—valuing what you already have and recognizing that objects carry history and stories.
Vintage and antique fabrics hold the charm of time, and giving them new life is not only a choice that benefits the environment but also a way to enrich your own experience and creativity.
Your small steps have the power to shape the future. Enjoy the journey, and discover a way to practice sustainability that feels uniquely yours.
