Public Ecology is founded by Miko Takama, Japanese knitter living in Helsinki.

My sustainable Japandi knitwear pieces are entirely hand-knitted and made-to-order. My aim is to bring back the appreciation for precious art of handcrafted fashion with luxurious feels of the high quality materials and minimalistic patterns while promoting ethical and environmental responsibility.

 

Due to my high quality and sustainability standards, I choose the yarns for my pieces very carefully, incorporating certified yarns whenever possible, and no synthetic materials are used.

 

Since this is one person operation, the whole process from development / designing to producing each of pieces entirely by hand is an extremely slow and time-consuming process. However, I do not consider these as disadvantages. My collection grows very slowly and made-to-order model certainly makes the production time a bit long, but I believe this is the best way to operate a knitwear brand sustainably and promote slow fashion.

Made-to-Order

After working for several fashion brands, including some sustainable brands, I always knew that if I ever start one, I will incorporate made-to-order model. It means that I start knitting each piece only once a customer places an order.


In an age where consumers can get anything at their door the next day they place the order with a click of a mouse, the concept of made-to-order requires a mind-ship for some consumers. However, I don’t want to just produce knitwear and encourage people to buy more and more carelessly, I want to promote sustainable and slow fashion. Not only that there’s absolutely no waste or surplus stocks this way, there’s also something special about the experience of having a garment made for you. The concept offers an emotional value and an intimate experience to the customer that most fashion brands cannot offer. Hopefully the emotional connection with the garment makes the my customer appreciate and cherish my knitwear pieces and keep them for a long time. With that said, I hope to bring forward timelines minimalistic knitwear pieces using beautiful yarns knitted just for you.

Japandi Design

“Japandi,” a portmanteau of “Japanese” and “Scandi”, and it is two distinct minimalist styles that are married harmoniously. The innate love of nature and historic “less-is-more” cultures that privilege minimalism and tranquility in Nordic countries and Japan blend easily with one another.


Japandi’s characteristics in my mind are: craftsmanship, texture, balance, and serenity, and make me think of natural woods, earthy materials, neutral colour palettes. The aesthetics of Japandi is my endless source of inspiration.


My Japandi knitwear pieces represent a sense of calmness and ease, and to look and feel honest. At the same time, a touch of femininity that feels romantic, redefined and elevated. I design timeless knitwear intensionally so that it will stand the test of time.