Exclusive Milk Street Maekake Apron

Don’t be fooled by our maekake apron’s stunning design—it’s actually been used as a functional piece of workwear for centuries in Japan. They’re designed and produced exclusively for Milk Street on century-old Toyoda looms in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture—the traditional epicenter of apron production. Made from thick cotton canvas and heavy-duty ribboning traditional to the ornamental garments worn by sumo wrestlers. The aprons are colored with a rich indigo using resist-dyeing techniques, which allows the original white shade of the fabric to come through in the design without bleeding or fading over time. The thick belts are colored with white and red, both considered lucky colors, and are sturdy enough to offer lower back support when tied in a traditional fashion. Not too heavy and not too light, the waist-high apron comes with a roomy pocket, too.

Since the 14th century, pub workers and craftsmen would promote their business with a logo across the apron’s front—so we created a unique design dedicated to Milk Street. The soaring Arctic tern, a white seabird that migrates from pole to pole, represents our pursuit to travel the world for recipes, and the Japanese lettering reads our headquarters’ address, 177 Milk Street.