Handmade Fair Trade in Indonesia & the United States

White brass & Leather

Available in black & espresso

Watchful Eye stud buttons - 1 inch square

Latch Width - 4 inches

Latch Height - 1 inch

Weight - .9 ounce each

This bold leather snap closure is unique in our Latch offerings because it features the two different stud buttons in the Ainu Watchful Eye Stud Button set, creating a unique visual statement.  

The Ainu people (Ainu means "human") are a group of indigenous people who have occupied the northern parts of the Japanese archipelago as well as parts of the Kamchatka peninsula. Hokkaido is currently the primary center of modern Ainu culture.  I became interested in Ainu people through their magnificent textile traditions and the stud buttons that make up the Ainu collection are inspired by a visual vocabulary of motifs that Ainu women deploy in improvisational, highly personal designs appliqued and embroidered on traditional robe forms called Atush. 

Atush robes were traditionally made from bark fiber, later cotton, elaborately embroidered and appliqued at the hem, cuffs, neckline, front opening and on the back, all areas of the body considered vulnerable.  Ainu motifs, generally, are considered protective and can be combined in many ways. There is a cultural value placed on deploying these basic visual forms in fresh ways to create new, personal, complex visual statements. Ainu women, by adorning their own robes and the robes of their family members, were actively protecting themselves and others from malevolent forces and dangers. 

These two stud buttons feature a motif called Siknoka, a pattern of eyes that are understood as protective because they lend the wearer the ability to see malevolent beings and forces around them.  These 'eyes' ward off evil in this way.  These eye motifs are often used in conjunction with spirals and thorns that are also used to protect the wearer. This particular version of the Sik Noka also looks like Ram Noka, or fishscales. This is an association I see that is not necessarily coming directly from an Ainu visual vocabulary.  

Please Note: When you want to use the stud buttons on their own, you may temporarily remove them from the leather Latch component to extend, even further, the versatility and utility of this styling tool.