Tricolor Camera Strap [One-of-a-kind item]

Tricolor — Reimagining the Colors of France

This custom strap began with a simple theme: Tricolor.

Rather than interpreting the French tricolor as three clearly separated colors, I wanted to take the idea a little further.

The starting point was, of course, the French flag — red, white, and blue. From there, my thoughts naturally moved toward France itself, and then to the atmosphere of Les Misérables: a world of history, struggle, worn streets, muted light, and colors that feel as though they have aged with time.

From Three Colors to a Broader Palette

My first plan was to build the strap around three central colors:

・Red
・Lapis lazuli blue
・A soft gray close to white

To give these colors more depth, I prepared several variations within each color family: three shades of blue, three shades of red, two shades of white, and silver thread — nine colors in total.

But as I continued developing the design, I felt that a simple combination of these colors would still look too literal.

So I expanded the palette further.

Eventually, the strap was created using 16 different colors.

A Tricolor Hidden Within Camouflage

Instead of separating red, white, and blue into distinct sections, I allowed many related shades to blend and interrupt one another.

The colors appear almost like camouflage.

From a distance, the strap does not immediately read as a French flag. Instead, the tricolor gradually reveals itself through layers of muted reds, deep and faded blues, soft whites, grays, and subtle metallic highlights.

I deliberately toned down the overall palette, taking inspiration from the visual atmosphere of Les Misérables. Rather than using bright, clean primary colors, I wanted the strap to feel slightly weathered and cinematic — as though the colors carried a sense of history.

Interpreting a Theme Through Kumihimo

For me, a custom order is rarely about reproducing a theme literally.

When I receive a word such as “Tricolor,” I begin by thinking about the associations behind it — its place, culture, history, atmosphere, and emotion.

In this case:

Tricolor → France → Les Misérables → a muted historical palette → camouflage-like layers of color

That process eventually became this strap.

The three colors of the French flag are still at its heart, but they are broken apart, softened, mixed, and reconstructed through sixteen colors of silk.

This is my interpretation of Tricolor — not as three separate colors, but as a layered image of France expressed through hand-braided kumihimo.