Accessories
Retro-Glamour Hair Ornaments
Toshio Arakawa and his son, Youhei Arakawa represent the second and third generation in a family of resin artists. This was a craft begun back in the 1920’s by Youhei’s grandfather who made art pieces from bakelite by hand. Bakelite is a “phenolic resin” material that can be shaped by heating, filing and cutting, making it an ideal material for detailed craftwork. Phenolics are little used in general consumer products today due to the cost and complexity of production and their delicate nature. It takes a true master of the craft to work bakelite well. Recently, the father-son team have designed a line of “retro-glamour” hair ornaments that invoke bakelite’s retro sensibility, while pushing the art to new levels.
