Pioneer of small, thin wallets
Hitoe® Fold "The pioneer of small, thin wallets"
The design was completely redesigned in 2021, and the first generation Hitoe ® Fold has now completed its role. The photo shows an early prototype from when the product was announced in 2019. It is a product that we are very attached to, and we would like to look back on its epoch-making role.
The history of thin and mini wallets
Based on detailed research and information from our readers, we have compiled below a list of "thin wallets" and "mini wallets" that were released before the first Hitoe ® Fold (November 2019) and that do not allow cards and coins to overlap.
- 2008.07 : Sartore Wallet (Sartore)
- 2009.12 : Thin Wallet (Value Innovation)
- 2017.01 : Komodo (ULYSSES)
- 2018.06 : Hitoe ® L-zip S (SYRINX)
- 2018.11 : Piastra (Mpiu)
- 2019.09 : Jitan (JACAJACA)
- 2019.11 : Hitoe® Fold
All of these wallets are characterized by their thinness, but Hitoe ® Fold was the first thin wallet that limited cards to credit card size and was also clearly aimed at being "small."
Crowdfunding success
Development began in the summer of 2019, and the first-generation Hitoe® Fold was announced in November, once the patent application was completed.
Crowdfunding reached over 10 million yen in just three minutes after it began. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, leather imports were uncertain, and the campaign ended early with 3,500 units. Nevertheless, it significantly surpassed the highest price in Japan, and after sales resumed on the official website, the waiting list for reservations extended up to a year and a half.
The birth of a new genre: "small, thin wallets"
The first Hitoe ® Fold caused such a stir that within a few months, similar products began to appear one after another on the crowdfunding market, giving birth to a new genre of "small, thin wallets."
However, the only bi-fold wallets that have received more support than the original Hitoe® Fold are the Hitoe® Fold Aria and Hitoe® Fold v.2021 from the same series. Since then, the Hitoe® Fold series has continued to dominate the top three spots in domestic support amounts (as of August 30, 2024, according to our own research).
World-class design
The Hitoe® Fold series has won 19 major international design awards, including the world's three biggest design awards: the iF Design Award , the Red Dot Award , and IDEA .
Hitoe® Fold's challenge continues
Hitoe ® Fold's challenge is not over yet. Please keep an eye on our continuing challenges.
