Opal material displayed at Paris ModAmont clothing & accessory supply fair

KYOCERA Unveils One-of-a-Kind “Kyoto Opal”

13 February 2009

Kyoto/ Paris – Kyocera Corporation announced that it is unveiling its “Kyoto Opal” – the unique opal material that the company has developed – for the first time outside of Japan at one of the world’s largest trade fairs for trimming and supplies for fashion and design, ModAmont, in Paris, from February 10th through the 13th.

Samples of Kyocera’s Kyoto Opal, and clothing accessory buttons made from the same material will be on display in the Shindo Senikogyo Co., Ltd. booth at the trade fair
Kyoto Opal is the name given to the opal material that Kyocera has developed, which up until this point has been known outside of Japan simply as man-made color opal. Cultivated with a quartz-grain structure that is identical to naturally occurring opal, the Kyoto Opal material has a unique aesthetic quality that cannot be duplicated with molded resin-based products. Due to special staining techniques, Kyocera has been able to realize a variety of rich and subtle hues and tints. Furthermore, by surmounting the inherently brittle characteristics of naturally occurring opals, which tend to split and crack, it is possible to cut the Kyoto Opal into diverse shapes. By integrating the traditional Japanese hikihaku technique of manipulating hard objects for kimono designs with a 0.2mm thin sheet of Kyoto Opal, it is possible to bend a sheet of the opal material composite, thus creating high expectations for use in various applications.

Kyocera decided on the name Kyoto Opal in part because the material was created in Kyoto, Japan, as well as to familiarize people around the world with the opal by associating it with the internationally known, historically rich city.

About ModAmont

ModAmont is a trade fair for fashion and clothing design supplies which is held twice a year to coincide with the world-renowned Paris Collection fashion events. As a parallel exhibition to the Premiere Vision — the original textile trade fair — suppliers from clothing and accessory related industries come from all over the world to display their buttons, buckles, fasteners and other fashion related materials. At last year’s fall ModAmont trade fair, more than 300 merchants exhibited their goods. With many influential designers and buyers from the fashion world assembled all at once for the Paris Collection, it is said that at these events one can get a sneak peek at which design materials will be in vogue in the coming year.