Perspective is a project that aims to give a multifaceted, bird's-eye view of things through communication via products.

For our second interview, we spoke to interior stylist Kimura Ayami. What does Leather Wrapped Stone mean to her? We visited her home.

Buying things is welcoming them into our home

When you shop for yourself, how do you often feel about making purchases?

For some stylists, private shopping has a strong nuance of stocking up and gathering materials for work, but I might shop as if I were welcoming them into my home. Of course, the line between work and private life is blurred, so there is a sense that shopping equals work.

Do you have any criteria for choosing things?

I don't have a clear standard, but I have the feeling that I am trying to squeeze in not to have too much stuff. I was once told by someone who came to my home for an interview that I didn't have a lot of stuff for a stylist. Things I used for work, things I could use in the future and things I bought for my hobbies. I think stylists naturally have more stuff because of their job, but I seem to have relatively little.

However, there is also a longing for having a lot of stuff. A style of interior design that balances things out. For example, a collection of records and books, and other things, souvenirs from somewhere else. But I can't really do that. I get a sense of information overload, so I limit the amount of things.

Maybe that's why I always unconsciously simulate the material texture and shape of things in order to find a balance in a small number of things. I think, for example, if I combine this material with that material, they will complement each other, or if I combine them in this way, only one of the materials will stand out. I feel like I am thinking about the combination of materials and shapes of things I already have and new things I am bringing in.

Did you also simulate the case of Leather Wrapped Stones?

When I first saw the Leather Wrapped Stone, I didn't know whether it was an object or a paperweight, but I was interested in the discomfort or strength of the leather being pulled into the curves of the stone. I don't know what it was, but intuitively, I thought, Ah! I have to welcome this! I thought. Looking back, I don't think I was simulating the Leather Wrapped Stone when I brought it in.

Blends in with surroundings and creates balance

How are leather stones used?

Yes, for example, you could put it on top of a book as a decoration. Or you could put it somewhere on a shelf or on a windowsill. Maybe it doesn't have to be in the living room. I enjoy putting it in different places in my home because it blends well with other things.

Stones are often used in styling. For example, when decorating shelves, there are often square objects such as books and boxes, but if you combine them with round objects, the impression becomes tighter and more balanced. Stones are a particularly good choice among round objects, as they blend in with their surroundings without any sense of discomfort and are easy to balance.

Do you have any styling tips?

You can try rolling or placing them randomly. I call placing them randomly like that 'poron', and poron gives a natural atmosphere.

Sense of Fluctuation

What is the attraction of Leather Wrapped Stone?

Leather Wrapped Stone don't have a function. Perhaps that is its goodness. Vases have a hole for inserting flowers, don't they? The hole is necessary for the function, and the vase is completed when the flower is inserted. Of course, there are many vases that are beautiful on their own, but the hole is a necessary function. A watch is not something that can be placed anywhere, and a tray also has a function to hold something. But this Leather Wrapped Stone has no function, so it can be placed anywhere. It is an existence that is not fixed and gives a fluctuation to the space.

One of the themes of Leather Wrapped Stone also includes fluctuation.

I see! Actually, my own recent theme is 'fluctuation'. I used to think that it was important to have something solid or to have a straight line, but I think that my true self has a more fluctuating sense of self. My feelings are always fluctuating. What is important is not that they don't change, but that I look at the changes and accept them.

The Leather Wrapped Stone seem to symbolise your sense of 'fluctuation'.

Maybe that's true. If an object has a strong personality, you have to think about the layout, but lLeather Wrapped Stone have a softness that makes them comfortable wherever they are placed.

Perspective is a project that aims to give a multifaceted, bird's-eye view of things through communication via products.

For our first interview, we spoke to interior designer Kanda Keita. What does Leather Wrapped Stone mean to him? We visited his office in Asakusabashi.

Just the right relationship.

How are leather stones used?

I usually keep it at home as an object and occasionally pick it up. I like to have it on my desk and touch it all the time, but I like the relationship with it just enough to touch it once in a while.

Leather products are fun to touch. When you touch it regularly, it gets shiny. If anything, leather products make you want to soak them in oil and nurture them. When I used to play football, I liked to polish my spikes. Before a game, I would polish my leather spikes so beautifully that they shone. When I was a bit older, I enjoyed polishing leather shoes. I only do maintenance when I feel like it, but polishing leather is calming. It deepens my love for it, I feel like I'm doing something good for the leather, and I can see the results immediately.

Yes, leather maintenance is an obsession.

I've always had a habit of keeping my head on all the time. I tend to dream about being busy with work even when I'm asleep because I'm constantly thinking about it. Maybe that's why I really like work that I can immerse myself in silently. If I'm mindlessly working with my hands, there's some kind of result, and maybe it relaxes me.

Do you also maintain leather stones?

The leather stones have been oiled several times. But less often. Rather than soaking them in maintenance oil, I prefer to touch them with my hands from time to time to soak up my own oil.

A kind of receptacle.

What attracts you to leather stones?

Leather stones are good for receiving. There is a range of ways in which it can be received. For example, if you give a leather stone to someone, what you give them is neither a stone nor a leather product. If you introduce it to someone and explain that there is a stone inside, they wonder what kind of stone is inside and why you put the stone inside. You can imagine a lot of things from the stone as it is, not wrapped in leather, but it is the fact that you can't see the stone because it is wrapped that makes it imaginative. Some people enjoy holding them in their hands, others use them as paperweights, and it is interesting to see what each person can find in them, depending on their sensibilities.

You have been stroking the leather stone for a long time now.

I like the way the front and back are connected in this single piece of leather, and the lines from the point where they are connected to the edge of the leather. I like the lines that don't look like they could be drawn on a design drawing.

What is being asked for now.

The leather stone fits comfortably in this way of holding (thumb and forefinger on the sides and middle finger on the bottom). The whole thing, including the back of the stone, fits in my hand. It makes you want to throw it.

Like a stone for draining water.

Yes, yes. Although I don't actually throw it. But there are positions where you feel at home when you touch it like this. In that sense, there are two sides to it. The position I'm in now is the A side, and the B side feels a bit uncomfortable. I feel like I can move it all the time, looking for a position where I feel at home.

It may be of concern because it is an unexpected form, a form that is not consciously created.

Maybe it is also good that it is easy to understand and is a natural object. I feel like I can put some distance between myself and it. It could be about being modern. It should be natural, not too made up, not too manipulated.

It's the word of the moment.

Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I think people are tired of it. They are tired of things that have been made too much. That's why it's easier to accept things that are made naturally. If the shape of the leather stone had been deliberately designed, I might feel differently about it.

I feel that the feeling that you can't beat natural forms is something universal that people have always had. I also have that feeling when I try to make things, and I affirm it unconditionally.

Even in interior design, there is now a trend in favour of solidity and texture. How to use the natural state is what is required nowadays.

Things exist as if they were alive.

I remember that when I was little, I used to perceive things as anthropomorphic. I loved them so much that I hated it when they broke, and I treated things as if they were alive. That's why I didn't like people who treated things roughly. However, I'm not a polite person myself, so I can't say much about other people. I've always had the feeling that I don't want to do things that hurt things.

I think I was also very attached to my house. When I was in the upper grades of primary school, I was very unhappy when I realised that my grandfather's house would one day be gone. I have always been attached, or rather obsessed, with my house.

This is a selfish request, but I would like to have my own stone wrapped in leather. Like a stone from a place that I have a special place in my heart.

That is a big responsibility.

It's a personal story, but I know that my family home will be gone when the generations change. If I know it will be gone, I would like to use the stones from there to make a leather stone. Someone might say that I should just leave it there without making it into a leather stone.

But I still wouldn't touch it much if it was stone intact. In terms of wanting to touch it, I still feel like I want it to be in a state where it is wrapped in the texture of leather and placed there.