Furoshiki is the Japanese art of wrapping with cloth. A single square, folded and knotted, can wrap a gift, carry a bottle or hold the shopping, then be untied and used again. Tomoko Kakita’s Furoshiki and the Japanese Art of Gift Wrapping is the only book on our shelf, and it is here because it changed how we wrap.

We found it in a Japanese crafts shop in Seattle, on the way home from our buying trip in August. Back in London, we looked up the author and discovered she lives here. Tomo runs ma space design, and in September we met her at Japan House in Kensington. To her, wrapping isn’t decoration. It is part of the act of giving, and that idea stayed with us.

You can see her thinking in the details most people never notice. Every wrap starts from the same square of cloth, and the difference is all in the folds and the knot. Nothing is cut, taped or thrown away afterwards, and the book shows you how to do it yourself.

From November, every Laatu order will go out wrapped in cloth, for you to keep and use again. This book is the reason.

“Japan is one of my favourite countries on the planet. The care that goes into wrapping a gift there has stayed with me longer than most of the design lessons I’ve picked up.” - Gary