Designing new from old

Our friend mio.matsumoto is the Tokyo-based artist and illustrator behind Dohur’s first collection.

In the spirit of our cross-cultural, tradition-making brand, she took Aunt Dorte’s original Danish julekalender design and reinterpreted it for our well-travelled customers.

Mio was the ideal collaborator: she works across many different fields including magazines, books, advertising and fashion as well as product design, and often collaborates with female-led brands.

“I’d describe my style as charming but laced with naughtiness,” she says. “I enjoy mixing things up. So something might be beautiful but it also has a dark side.”

Mio understood that we wanted to build on existing craft skills to make something new and unique. She created four custom designs for the Dorte calendar, drawing from Dorte’s original design and Japan’s rich history of illustration as well as her own distinctive, bold style. We selected two of those designs - Holly and Oak for our calendars this year.