Postalco is a husband-and-wife business founded in 2000 by Mike and Yuri Abelson. At the time, Mike was working as a bag designer, while Yuri's background is in graphic design. Starting in Brooklyn, New York, the couple moved their lives - and the business - to Tokyo over a decade ago. What sets Postalco’s designs apart are their fundamental utility and ineffable warmth, combined with the beauty of understatement. While stationery remains at the heart of the business, Postalco has since expanded into producing a beautiful range of leather goods, bags and rainwear, in addition to its work as a design agency with an enviable international client list.
At Trunk we've recently received a delivery of Postalco's elegant leather goods to complement our selection of stationery, so we decided it was a great time catch up with Mike to discuss the thought process behind his product design, his latest project and life in Tokyo.
Trunk: Can you tell us a little about the philosophy behind Postalco?
Mike Abelson: I think that fashion often is answering questions of 'who' we are. Science is asking ‘what’ we are. When looking at ‘what’ we are, so many issues emerge, large and small, to be resolved. A wallet or a notebook won't change your life. But I think that small differences in things we use constantly everyday do add up. Postalco strives to invent well made objects to solve our problems in a beautiful and satisfying way.
T: The Postalco Snap Pad is something we hadn't seen before, that has proved particularly popular at Trunk – how did you come up with the idea for the product?
MA: I was inspired by the piles of paper that build up like snow drifts around all copy machines. In the paperless age there seems to be more paper than ever. Now that paper is an option I can appreciate its immediacy more. We made a series of paper holders called Snap Pads to capture all those loose sheets. We used leather, paper board, and fabrics for the bindings- it is fascinating to see the varying effects of different materials all used to bind paper.
– The Postalco workshop, Tokyo.
T: Where does your design inspiration tend to come from?
MA: Great products are born in a certain place to solve a certain problem. Urushi miso soup bowls are a good example. You may be able to take that same object to a different environment and use it, but it would not have been born in that specific way without that environment. We are inspired by daily life around us.
T: Do you have any new projects currently in the works?
MA: We are working on a collaboration with one of the great modern artists's foundation for the fall of this year.
T: Where do you call home?
MA: Tokyo.
T: Would you mind telling us about some of your favourite local places?
MA: In Shibuya there is a small yakitori (chicken grilled over coals) place called Morimoto. It is a tightly knit group in the open kitchen, watching them it is almost like a jazz band. They specialise in free range chicken and the subtle flavours are fantastic.
T: Do you have a favourite travel destination for work or pleasure?
MA: I love going to Yakushima island – famous for its old growth forest and ancient cedar trees. The shapes of the trees are unbelievably complicated and beautiful. There is a trail called Shiratani Unsui Kyo; one of the greatest places for walking.
T: Finally, what are your five essential items for travel?
MA: Pen, notebook, good tea, mouth harp, dried fruit.
A warm thank you to Mike from all of us at Trunk for taking the time to chat. Shop the entire Postalco collection here. For more from behind the scenes at Trunk, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.