Pioneer of small, thin wallets
The Hitoe® Fold series has been supported by many people seeking a thin, compact wallet in this cashless era.
Since its launch in 2019 as a new concept product, a "small, thin wallet," the company has taken on numerous challenges and broken into new territory.
From "thin wallets" to "small, thin wallets"
To sum up Hitoe® Fold in one word, it is a "second generation thin wallet."
The first generation focused on thinness.
In contrast, the second generation thoroughly pursues even the smallest details.
We look back at how Hitoe® Fold, the starting point for the second generation, was born and has evolved.
The era of "thin wallets"
Before the Hitoe® Fold was released, there were only a handful of wallets that did not stack cards and coins.
These are summarised in the following timeline:
| 2008.07 | Sartore Wallet (Sartore) |
| December 2009 | Thin Wallet (Value Innovation) |
| 2017.01 | Komodo (ULYSSES) |
| 2018.06 | Hitoe® L-zip S (SYRINX) |
| 2018.11 | Piastra (Mpiu) |
| 2019.09 | Jitan (JACAJACA) |
What these wallets have in common is that coins and cards do not overlap.
On the other hand, there were no designs that clearly pursued "smallness," such as card pockets that could hold business cards.
We believe that the pioneer that made this "thin wallet" category widely known to the world was "Thin Wallet (Value Innovation)."
Due to its high level of perfection, this model was synonymous with "thin wallets" for about 10 years after its release.
Reinventing the slim wallet: the "small slim wallet"
However, there are now a wide variety of slim wallets available on the market.
The starting point for this change was Hitoe® Fold, which was announced in November 2019.
The essence of Hitoe® Fold's innovation is that it aims not just to be thin, but also to be clearly "small."
At the time, there were no wallets that featured card pockets that were just the right size for credit cards, and that put the concept of a "small, thin wallet" at the forefront, at least as far as we knew.
Thus, Hitoe® Fold was the first to give concrete form to the unprecedented concept of a "small, thin wallet."
About six months have passed since the release of the Hitoe® Fold in 2019, and similar wallets incorporating this concept have appeared one after another since 2020, and a new lineage of "small, thin wallets" is now spreading.
How was Hitoe® Fold, the origin of all of this, born and evolved?
Let's look back at its history.
Invention and Presentation: Minimalism in Action
Summer 2019: Development begins
He invented the "inner hook," which uses the stored card itself as a fastener.
After repeated prototyping, we pushed the limits of thinness, simplicity, and ease of use, and in November we filed for a patent and unveiled the prototype.
Immediate response after release
The announcement of the extremely minimalist prototype caused a huge buzz on social media, and the number of hits to the official website skyrocketed.
A maximum of 24,000 sessions were recorded per day.
The new concept of a "small, thin wallet" attracted a lot of attention and sympathy.
Timeline of Challenges: Crowdfunding and the Evolution of Design
2020–2021: From birth to establishment
This was a period when the company achieved a new record for crowdfunding in Japan and released a series of new models. Developing derivative models such as Aria and Less, the company established itself as the new standard for bifold wallets.
- February 2020 - The crowdfunding campaign for the first Hitoe® Fold attracted a lot of attention, raising over 10 million yen in just three minutes. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign ended early on the 18th with 3,500 units raised, but it still set a new record for the highest amount raised in Japan at the time. Winner of the Campfire Crowdfunding Award 2020 .
- December 2020 - Hitoe® Fold Aria was released. Featuring bill holders and a unique design, the total amount of support exceeded 78 million yen, breaking its own record in Japan.
- April 2021 - Hitoe® Fold (2nd generation) was released. A bill holder was added, and the amount of support exceeded 55 million yen. The Hitoe® Fold series dominated the top three most expensive wallets in Japan. (This will continue until February 2025 *In-house research )
- December 2021 - Hitoe® Fold Less announced. The ultimate slim model, limited to storing three cards.
2023–2025: Towards completion
With the arrival of the third-generation Hitoe® Fold, the size and storage design have been further optimized. It has also received significant support through crowdfunding on its website. In 2024, the company launched the "Mushroom" collection, which is derived from mushroom mycelium. In 2025, it released the "Antico" collection to commemorate its 5th anniversary. The last remaining structural issues have been resolved, evolving into a truly complete product.
- May 2023 - Hitoe® Fold (3rd generation) was announced. Despite being released on the company's own website, it achieved support of over 40 million yen.
- May 2025 - Release of the 5th anniversary collection "Antico." Updated coin pocket shape.
- 2025.10 - Announcement of an update to the coin pocket shape of Hitoe Fold -Liscio-.
- November 2025 - Hitoe announces an update to the coin pocket shape of the Fold Aria & Less.
Awards
The Hitoe® Fold series alone has won 20 awards ( 31 awards for SYRINX as a whole). It has received high praise both domestically and internationally, including the world's three major design awards (iF, Red Dot, IDEA).
Major awards (World's top three design awards)
- iF Design Award 2019, 2022, 2023
- Red Dot Award 2022
- IDEA 2018, 2023
+ View the list of awards by year
2020
- Campfire Crowdfunding Award 2020
- Hospitality Selection 2020
2021
- Hospitality Selection 2021
- K-DESIGN AWARD 2021
- European Product Design Award 2021
- MUSE Design Awards 2021
- NY Product Design Awards 2021
- IDA Design Awards 2021
- London International Creative Competition 2021
2022
- Red Dot Award 2022
- iF Design Award 2022
- A' Design Award & Competition 2022
- Hospitality Selection 2022
- DNA Paris Design Awards 2022
- DFA Design for Asia Awards 2022
- Chicago Good Design Award 2022
2023
- German Design Awards 2023
- iF Design Award 2023
- IDEA 2023
2025
- Social Products Awards 2025
Not only is it small and thin,
Even easier to use and more beautiful.
This is not a coincidence, but the result of careful consideration.
SYRINX will continue to take on new challenges.
(Text by Hironao Sato, CEO and designer of SYRINX)
