'Hayamichi' by MINA blue, an Independent Leather Brand with 13 Years in the Industry, Wins One of the World's Top Three Design Awards
The 'Hayamichi' leather wallet by independent brand MINA blue has won the prestigious iF design award 2026, a remarkable feat among over 10,000 entries. The wallet is designed to carry 'just the right amount,' with a unique structure that physically prevents overfilling, guiding users towards a minimalist approach. Crafted from a single piece of durable, sustainably-sourced 'Aged Chrome Leather' with minimal stitching, it champions longevity and repairability.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: March 28, 2026 at 16:38
- 🔍 Collected: March 28, 2026 at 21:59 (5h 21m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 15, 2026 at 07:43 (417h 43m after Collected)
MINA blue (Representative: Takeo Sakai, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture)'s leather wallet, "Hayamichi," has won an iF design award 2026. This is a remarkable achievement for an independent brand, chosen from over 10,000 entries annually.
■ iF design award 2026
This is an internationally prestigious design award run by the iF International Forum Design, founded in Germany in 1953. For 2026, 129 judges rigorously juried over 10,000 entries from 68 countries. Hayamichi received scores exceeding the category average in all five judging criteria, particularly for "Form" (evaluating appearance and manufacturing method) and "Differentiation" (evaluating uniqueness).
iF award page: https://ifdesign.com/en/winner-ranking/project/hayamichi/739465
What is the "Just Right" Wallet, "Hayamichi"?
While society moves towards being cashless, many wallets in Japan are still structured with the premise of holding large amounts of cash. In contrast to conventional large-capacity designs, Hayamichi was designed as a wallet that allows users to adjust and update the storage themselves. When the storage exceeds the appropriate amount, the flap will not close naturally; the structure of the leather itself signals the right amount to carry. It's not a smartphone or an app, but the wallet's structure that teaches you the 'just right' amount.
The "Just Right" Mechanism
Hayamichi is a wallet that allows you to freely adjust the placement of bills, cards, and coins, enabling you to optimize the internal configuration to match your lifestyle and payment methods.
When the contents exceed the appropriate amount, the flap won't close naturally, intuitively signaling the amount you should carry. In the front pocket, the napped interior of the leather grips cards, holding them securely even if there are only a few. In the back pocket, the leather acts as a tray, the nap serves as a non-slip surface, and the flap prevents coins from falling out. The entire structure is designed to guide you to an organized use through natural movements.
Structure and Manufacturing
Most of the wallet is crafted from a single piece of leather, with a structure that uses no lining or metal fittings. The shape is maintained solely by the leather's tension, and minimizing sewing prevents wear from needle holes and thread friction. This "single-piece leather structure" maintains a balance of firmness and flexibility over the long term.
The front pocket has a cylindrical structure made with a "leather binding method" inspired by the cherry bark binding of bentwood boxes (magewappa), making it resistant to tearing by eliminating seams.
Material
The material used is "aged chrome leather," which was jointly developed by MINA blue's advisor, Fumihiro Minagawa, and Hashimoto Tannery, and took 10 years for MINA blue to bring to mass production for the first time. It is a high-density leather with about twice the amount of tanning agents penetrated deep into the fibers compared to typical tanning processes, maintaining flexibility and stability over the long term. The more it's used, the more supple it becomes while keeping its shape, absorbing the user's habits and movements over time, and evolving from a mass-produced item into a one-of-a-kind personal tool.
Sustainability
Hayamichi pursues sustainability consistently, from its details to its manufacturing system. The "repairable structure," which minimizes sewing and has no metal fittings, realizes a design that is easy to repair and can be used for a long time. The aged chrome leather used for the material has a high-density fiber structure that suppresses deterioration from long-term use and also contributes to reducing the environmental load by decreasing the frequency of reprocessing. And with "local supply," which manages everything from procuring raw hides to tanning and production domestically, a stable quality and sustainable supply system is established.
■ Product Information
Product Name: Hayamichi (leather wallet)
Colors: Natural, Black
Product Page: https://mina-blue.com/pages/products-wallets
■Brand Overview
MINA blue
Established: 2021
Representative: Takeo Sakai
Location: Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
Business: Planning, manufacturing, and sales of leather products
Official HP: https://mina-blue.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_minablue_/