Philosophy

Lost in the joy of creation,
I lost track of growing older

Canale／Meister

Kiyoshi Adachi

Born and raised in Gifu Prefecture, Kiyoshi Adachi began working at a textile factory in Bishu at the age of 18. For nearly half a century, Adachi has dedicated himself to the factory floor. With a philosophy of collaborative creation, he has created a wide variety of textiles, primarily fancy tweeds, by directly operating the Schonherr loom rather than working from a desk. He is now passing on his extensive expertise to younger technicians, ensuring that this unique craftsmanship is passed on to tomorrow in a sustainable manner.
Adachi’s philosophy sits at the heart of Canale’s manufacturing process.

Thinking through the hands, while creating with the Schönherr loom

Honing and passing on the art of manufacturing and value creation

Gallery

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Schönherr GmbH

The world’s most versatile loom,
enabling a full range of artistic
expression normally reserved for
handweaving

The Schönherr loom is a German-made shuttle loom. A shuttle is a tool designed to carry the weft yarn, which is wound onto a component (a tube) inside the shuttle. The shuttle is moved back and forth across the loom to weave the fabric.
This was the mainstream weaving technique from the Meiji era until around the 1960s. At the peak, around 16,000 of these looms were in operation throughout the Bishu region. With the spread of modern weaving machines, however, production ceased. Today, only a small number of these looms remain, and there are very few craftsmen with the skills to operate them, making them extremely rare.

Compared to the latest looms currently in widespread use, many of the processes involved in weaving yarn into fabric (such as warping, winding, and pirn winding) are performed manually, resulting in a much slower weaving speed and a production rate that is less than one-tenth of modern looms. The Schönherr loom, though, is advantageous because it allows for the selection of a wide variety of yarns and the ability to weave carefully and meticulously while keeping the warp yarn relaxed. Among existing power looms, the Schönherr loom is the most versatile loom, closely resembling hand weaving. This allows the weaver to freely express their artistic vision.