Seiko Kobayashi started drawing and designing under the Namu brand in 2009, after working as a 3-D character artist at Seattle game design company Monolith for nine years. She quickly found her own style, which sits somewhere between super modern and very traditional, paired with a kawaii flair.
Binko Chiong-Bisbee of the Kobo galleries enncouraged Kobayashi to transfer some of her design work to T-shirts. They proved wildly popular and have become one of the signature products at Kobo.
Kobayashi has two boys. Her sons were born in 2007 and 2009, and she soon realized that it was difficult to find affordable, cute clothing for boys. She decided to gear her design to boys, and soon came up with a Godzilla-inspired design. Lately Kobayashi has been branching out into T-shirts, wraps and bags for girls, women and men.
The Namu brand features Kobayashi’s “retro Japanese art,” especially inspired by Japanese art from the 1930s and 40s. Her art is not kawaii by design; she’s more interested in providing historical context. She sees the word “kawaii” as having different meanings in Japan and the US. In Japan, it’s all about cute and helpless like a baby or a pet, she explains. In English, the word carries more sexual and punk connotatiions.
Kobayashi creates her prints in a Fremont studio, working alone. Each design takes a lot of work, she says, so she only comes out with new work every half year or so.
Kobayashi likes to play with and modernize traditional garb, like the Harajuku girls who give kimono and zori sandals a modern flourish. Some of her most popular designs are “Umechan,” which features a girl in a light cotton yukata robe; “Kawaii Usagi,” a bunny in a kimono; and “Kawaii Kitty,” a kneeling cat in a kimono.
Next up for the Namu brand? A samurai riding a motorcycle, a vampire and angel cats, and Harajuku girl angels.
Her T-shirts are available at Kobo galleries in International District and Capital Hill. You can also purchase goods at her online store: http://www.namu.etsy.com

Boy MEKAJYU Meka Godzilla Brown T shirts	Boy SHINKANSEN Bullet Train Pictogram T shirt
Kawaii Rabbit Girl Long Sleeve Tee Light Pink	Women Kawaii Sakura (cherry Blossom) Pink with Brown print T

Custom portraits
Besides her apparel line, Namu creates custom portraits for children. “When painting a portrait, rather than working directly from a photo, I look for those unique aspects of each child and allow them to inspire a color palette and composition first, and then a fanciful setting.” Each of her works typically includes stylized Japanese text relating to the subject- usually their name, a favorite phrase, or birthday. Your very own custom portrait of your little one costs $380, including a 12”x12” digital image of the finished work and, of course, the physical painting mounted on a 2” deep board. For your own uniquely kawaii art, contact Namu through her online store at http://www.namu.etsy.com.

Photos © Namu

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