Coming Full Circle: A Farewell to the Sawako Helmet Collection
This photograph captures one of the proudest moments in Sawako’s journey: me, smiling beside my helmets on the main display wall at Bloomingdale’s in New York. Seeing something I had created occupy that space was extraordinary.
I come from a small suburb in Japan, where people tend to blend in rather than stand out. There is a beautiful harmony in that, and I love being there. But I’ve always been curious about what else is possible—how we can make our lives more interesting, beautiful and meaningful.
Designing stylish helmets was one expression of that curiosity. I never imagined it would become such a big part of my identity.
The idea began with a very simple dilemma: I REALLY didn’t want to wear a helmet on my bike. As a designer, I cared about what I wore, yet the helmets available—sitting so visibly on our heads—felt purely functional. Where was the personality? Where was the fun?
But cycling alongside cars in London, I also wanted to feel safe and confident. So I decided to create something I would want to wear.
My bosses at the time—shout-out to Bill and Manas!—were wonderfully supportive, as long as I got my architecture work done. Which I did. I loved my job.
Sawako grew at an exciting moment: e-commerce was taking off, female entrepreneurship was gaining visibility, and stylish helmets were still hard to find. I even built my first website myself using Dreamweaver!
My helmets have been featured in InStyle, The New York Times, and Vogue, fulfilling my ambition to bring helmets into fashion.
Then I became pregnant. Juggling architecture, a growing business and babies proved difficult, so I temporarily stepped away from architecture. I didn’t realise how closely the helmet brand would become tied to who I was.
Later, we moved to New York for a family adventure, planning to stay for two or three years before the children grew too big. We fell in love with the city’s energy and its incredible enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. At one point, we thought we might stay forever. Our children were even speaking with American accents.
Then COVID hit, and we returned to London quite abruptly.
Coming back was a hard landing for me in several ways. I needed a change, and returning to architecture and design became part of finding my way forward. But Sawako felt like another child. Letting it go was painful to contemplate, so once again, I tried to juggle everything.
My children are now 14 and 16, and I have more space for myself. My architecture and design studio SPOTS DESIGN is growing, and there are so many ideas I want to bring to life. I’ve realised that having more time doesn’t mean I need to keep everything going. Sometimes, I need to let something go to give something new my full energy.
Returning to London, where Sawako began, feels like coming full circle. It’s time to bring the helmet chapter to a close.
Sawako will remain, with the possibility of different products in the future. For now, I’m leaving room to explore.
The remaining helmet collection is now available at 50% off original prices, while stocks last. Once these helmets are gone, we won’t be restocking.
Shop the final helmet collection
To our customers, collaborators, retailers, marketers and logistics teams: thank you. Connecting with you has been one of the best parts of this journey.
I’m proud of what we created, grateful for everything it brought into my life, and curious about what comes next. I hope our paths cross again.
Love,
Sawako