Originally from Hanover, Germany Barbara Kuhn is a trained architect who has worked as an educator, in international hotels, as an architect and has now founded a business called Tokyo.Threads where she sells bags, artwork and table decorations creatively recreated from vintage Japanese kimono and obi material.

Here Barbara talks of how her business idea grew out of her love of cycling and travel in Japan which also led her to the 100-year old Machiya where we are talking. She gave some advice to the owner, Yuka-san, about how to reuse some of the antiques in the house as well as how to redesign the old sweets shop into a comfortable and appealing guest house and pop-up event venue.

Watch the video of Barbara Kuhn here on YouTube | Shop at Barbara's Tokyo.Threads shop on Etsy