Haramaki -- Warm to the Core!

HEY HARAMAKI LOVERS!

We've had the good fortune to interview the delightful entrepreneur and haramaki-maker Julia Aynsley of Haramaki Love (www.haramakilove.com) here at Haramaki, Warm to the Core!

We've also had the opportunity to sample and snuggle up to the goods, and we give Haramaki Love's handmade haramaki two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Good stretch, perfect fit, juicy colors, quality craftsmanship, loving details and most important -- warm to the core!

Check out our interview below, then head straight over to Julia's shop at www.haramakilove.com and snap up a haramaki or three. It's a win-win -- you'll be helping to support a budding businesswoman and staying warm and stylie to boot!

P.S. Don't miss the part about Haramaki Love's monthly drawing for a free haramaki -- check the website for details at www.haramakilove.com!

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Q:Tell us about your haramaki business, www.haramakilove.com!

A: Haramaki Love is a business I started working on in the fall of 2008. The idea came to me spontaneously over dinner one night. I was out with friends, including a girl named Kaoru who was visiting from Japan. Kaoru had come bearing gifts, as the Japanese always do, but what I really wanted was the cute haramaki she was wearing around her midsection. I had discovered them in Japan, but it was only upon my return to Canada that I realized I should have brought some back with me! I eyed Kaoru's haramaki for the week she was here, until she literally took it off and gave it to me - and it was love at first wear. Needless to say, my Japanese friends found me to be a little insane when they heard of my business idea. It's as though a Japanese person was trying to convince you that they had a fabulous business idea of selling tighty whities in Japan.

Q: What's your working definition of a haramaki?

A: Well, the actual word comes from the words 'hara', meaning the center of the body, and 'maki', meaning to roll up, much in the same way a maki sushi roll is rolled up. As a whole, haramaki refers to what once was a samurai armour and what today is a tubular piece of fabric that is worn around the midsection as a belly warmer.

Q: What do people wear them for?

A: We call them belly warmers, but what they more specifically warm are your internal organs, and your kidneys in particular. According to Eastern medicine, the kidneys are the foundation of health. When your kidneys are warm and working well, the whole body is healthy, and the vital energy, or chi, flows throughout the body. In Japan, wearing haramaki is ubiquitous among women, and many men wear them too.

If you suffer from any sort of stomach ailment, the doctor will oftentimes send you home with medicine and advise you to put on a haramaki. By warming the core, your blood circulates better throughout your entire body, warming up your whole body. Haramaki is also great for the relief of menstrual cramps, especially the one designed with a little pocket at the front in which you can put a heat pad. Incidentally, these have been one of my best sellers!

Haramaki is also favored by pregnant women. It allows expecting mothers to greatly expand the maternity wardrobe, especially at the beginning of pregnancy when maternity clothes don't quite fit. Finally, haramaki are useful post-partum to give you a little privacy while breastfeeding, and also because fitting into pre-pregnancy clothing remains a bit of a challenge.

Q: How did you decide to start making them?

A: I lived in Japan for a few years and discovered haramaki during my time there. It was only in my second year of living there that my Japanese girlfriends let me in on their little secret. I lived in the very south of Japan, with tropical weather year-round. So I didn't really pay all that much attention to the concept until I came home to freezing Canada.

After Kaoru gave me hers, I sent her home to Japan with some cash and the instructions to 'find every haramaki you can and send it over!' I hadn't found anything interesting in North America, and my friends and family all wanted one. So I decided to start making my own, and Haramaki Love was founded.

Q: Do you make them yourself or do you have help?

A: I definitely have help - otherwise I simply couldn't get it all done. I'm the web designer, accountant, buyer, distributor, customer service agent, and administrative assistant.

Also, I'm not the greatest seamstress, but the people that I work with are amazing. All small-scale, handmade cottage industry.

Q: What kinds of fabric are they made from?

A: At the moment I am using mostly cotton blends and other stretch knits. I am very, very picky when it comes to my fabrics and test them over and over for wear, colorfastness, elasticity etc. I try to keep my fabrics as natural as possible, but I also believe in creating a durable product; that's why most of my fabrics have a small percentage of synthetic material such as lycra, which preserves the shape of the haramaki for much longer.

I am currently working on an Organics line that will carry organic cotton, bamboo and soy fabrics.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your logo!

A: Many people refer to my logo as 'the heart', which is sweet, but not exactly what it is. The logo is actually a stylized cherry blossom petal: Japanese-inspired, of course.

Q: Who orders them? All kinds of people?

A: For now, mostly women of all ages, and from all over the world. People have written me saying their acupuncturist recommended they order one, while others want to have the exact colour swatch so that they can figure out how it will look over certain outfits.

I was recently contacted by a professional horse racer who spends her days training outside and bought our fleece version to keep warm- so it's across the board, really. It's important to me that my product be accessible to everyone.

Q: We've heard about maternity haramaki, but what about haramaki for guys?! Babies, toddlers?

A: Believe it or not, guys wear haramaki in Japan all the time. Here, men are catching on, slowly, and I am in the process of designing my men's line. In fact I'll admit I got my boyfriend hooked on one of my maternity haramakis!

For the little ones, haramakis are a useful garment, especially at nighttime and in cold weather. They work great tucked into trousers or skirts, to make sure there is no shifting about and the wearer stays toasty warm. It's very common for Japanese children to wear haramaki to bed in the wintertime, as the little one's movements often disrupt blankets and pyjamas, and so it is thought that at the very least, the haramaki keeps the body warm and the child protected from the cold.

Q: Are you wearing one right now? Can you describe it for us? :)

A: I absolutely am! I pretty much always have one on, it's one of those things that once you start wearing, you can't live without out. The other night I was tossing and turning in bed for hours, until I realized I had forgotten to put my haramaki on. I then put it on and fell right to sleep. No joke!

Right now I am wearing a turquoise cotton/lycra blend under my clothes. I seldom wear mine on the outside, I like the feeling of tucking it into my jeans, and that way, it never budges. If I were to raise my hands over my head, as I often do in my yoga classes, my sweater would lift and you would see a pop of colour under my clothes, and probably assume it was a camisole. Except that it won't get untucked with movement, because it's not attached to my shoulders. No extra bulk, just warmth and protection!

Q: What else would you like to tell us about haramaki?

A: A lot of people love the cute factor associated with haramaki, but it's important to note that the benefits of wearing it go way beyond looking cute. You can really feel the difference when you wear haramaki, especially so when you take it off.

Q: What else would you like to tell us about your business?

A: Everything is locally produced and I work hard to make sure Haramaki Love makes the smallest environmental impact possible. I studied International Development, and would be the last person to develop a product that I thought was yet another useless consumer good.

I really believe in haramaki, even on days when I am exhausted from all the work associated with running my own business. I know that however I decide to pursue Haramaki Love in the future, I will be wearing haramaki for the rest of my life! Isn't that reason enough to try it?

Q: How do we order one (or several!) from you?

A: That's easy! Simply check out one of my online stores at www.haramakilove.com or at www.haramakilove.etsy.com

We have many more styles coming up soon! We also do a monthly drawing for a free haramaki- check the website for details.

Of course, if you have any questions, I'm always happy to help and can be reached at julia@haramakilove.com