WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto and Mitsukoshi Seisakusho Reimagine a 1937 "Bamboo Chair" in Lacquer Black
WILDSIDE’s first collaboration with the 1910-founded furniture atelier casts a design icon in signature jet black, built one chair at a time.
Summary
WILDSIDE, the conceptual project from Yohji Yamamoto, has partnered with furniture atelier Mitsukoshi Seisakusho for the first time on a blacked-out edition of the historic "Bamboo Chair"
The piece renders a 1937 design in a deep lacquer-like black, with the WILDSIDE logo laser-engraved into the backrest in a subtle matte finish
Each chair is fully made to order and handbuilt by a single Mitsukoshi Seisakusho craftsman
WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto has joined forces with Mitsukoshi Seisakusho for its first collaboration with the storied maker, producing a jet-black interpretation of the “Bamboo Chair.” The project takes a piece of mid-century Japanese design history and refinishes it in the black that defines WILDSIDE’s world, arriving as a made-to-order object built entirely by hand.
The chair leads with material. Bamboo’s natural give, its curved lines, and the fine detail of its weave carry the form, qualities that have long drawn admiration from furniture designers working in the modern idiom. Here those elements meet WILDSIDE’s signature black, producing a version of the chair with a depth recalling the black of traditional Japanese lacquerware and architecture. The finish does more than color the surface; it sharpens the material’s texture and throws the contours and structure into relief, giving the supple curves a more sculptural, arresting presence.
The branding is deliberately quiet. On the reverse of the glossy, lacquer-like body, the WILDSIDE YOHJI YAMAMOTO logo is laser-engraved, then finished in a subdued matte so it surfaces only as the light shifts across it. It is a restrained touch that lets the object’s silhouette do the talking, and it reinforces that this is a built-to-order piece rather than a mass product; every chair is made one at a time by a Mitsukoshi Seisakusho artisan.
The heritage behind the form is a large part of the appeal. The Bamboo Chair was designed in 1937 by Umonji Kidokoro, then working in the Mitsukoshi furniture design studio, the operation that would become Mitsukoshi Seisakusho. Kidokoro’s work is said to have influenced French designer Charlotte Perriand, and he traveled Japan’s craft regions alongside figures including Sori Yanagi and Junzo Sakakura, even presenting a bamboo chaise longue. Recasting that legacy piece in black adds a new reading to a recognized classic while keeping its craft thinking intact.
The maker’s résumé lends the collaboration further weight. Founded in 1910 and run by Mitsukoshi Isetan Property Design, Mitsukoshi Seisakusho is a woodworking furniture workshop whose commissions span custom pieces for the Imperial Household Agency, the National Diet Building, the Supreme Court, five-star hotels, and luxury brands, along with furniture restoration for historic buildings. Working from a concept centered on craftsmanship built to last a century, the atelier handles everything from design to production in-house, an approach that pairs naturally with WILDSIDE’s tradition-meets-innovation framing.
The WILDSIDE Yohji Yamamoto x Mitsukoshi Seisakusho Bamboo Chair is available to order via the WILDSIDE official online store now. A special exhibition runs at WILDSIDE YOHJI YAMAMOTO OSAKA from June 26. As a fully made-to-order piece, production takes roughly one year and six months from order.
