Learn About Montbook
You may have encountered many brands that emphasize "giving top priority on craftsmanship" and "respecting craftsmen". But have you truly seen and verified with your own eyes the manufacturing process and factory? Do you really know where your bags come from and who made them?
Furthermore, we are planning workshops so that everyone can experience the joys and challenges of craftsmanship.
With the hope of making the experience of having and creating "truly good products" more accessible to you, we have launched the brand "MONT BOOK".
MONTBOOK consists of Mont ＋ Book. Our store's name, Yamamoto, in Japanese is written as 山本, where "山" means mountain and "本" means book. "Mont" (山) and "Book" (本) are used to represent the name "Yamamoto". Also, "本" means base or origin. As Yamamoto means the base of a mountain, our factory and head office are located in front of a mountain, surrounded by rich nature.
The Japanese craftsmanship meets Italian design.
Montbook is established by world-famous Italian product designer Giulio Iachetti and professional craftsman Kazuhiko Yamamoto.
Giulio encountered Yamamoto Bag Factory & Shop during his travels across Japan, where he visited various craftsmen. He was deeply impressed by the factory, nestled at the foot of a historic mountain surrounded by lush Japanese countryside, and by Yamamoto's dedicated craftsmanship. In turn, Yamamoto was impressed by Giulio's innovative, simple, and functional designs.
Inspired by this encounter, they decided to challenge themselves to create a new type of bag by blending Japan's high-quality craftsmanship with Italian design. Their goal is to further showcase the beauty of craftsmanship to the world.
Craftsman: Kazuhiko Yamamoto
"No matter what the era, you have to make good things."
With this belief in mind, we are specialists who have continued to pursue the creation of truly excellent school bags.
In the era when wholesale of randoseru was mainstream, we started direct sales with the desire to "deliver the randoseru we made directly to our customers." In order to let you see not only the manufacturing process but also our attitude towards craftsmanship, we also freely open our workshop for visits.
We pour the technology and pride we have cultivated in making school bags into the making of MONTBOOK bags.
Designer: Giulio Iacchetti
Since 1992, an industrial designer. Awarded the prestigious Compasso d’Oro award twice in the design world, and in 2009 received the Premio dei Premi Innovation Award from the President of the Republic for the Eureka Coop project. In 2009, held a solo exhibition "Giulio Iacchetti. Disobedient Objects" at the Milan Triennale.
Always attentive to the relationship between craftsmanship and design, he founded internoitaliano in 2012. He has served as a creator and curator of exhibitions, as well as the art director for multiple design brands. In 2023, he established the brand "Il Tornitore Matt" together with Alberto Alessi.
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Leather bags with leather tying and hanging
Wet forming and leather lasting are techniques that utilize the "plasticity" of vegetable-tanned leather to create three-dimensional shapes.
It is a technique that requires effort, time, and skill, but by using this technique, a unique charm is created that cannot be achieved through sewing.
We believe that once skills are lost they cannot be regained, which is why we dare to attempt the leather squeezing and hanging techniques.
Why do we make bags using squeezed and hung leather?
しかし、私達は1度失われた技術は取り戻せないと考えているからこそ、あえて革絞り・革吊り込みに挑戦します。手間や時間を理由に廃れていく技術を放置せず、会社としてこの技法を使った製品を世に送り出すことで、先人たちが残してくれた技術を後世に受け継ぎたいと考えています。
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