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a Cajal Bodies houseCajal Bodies

KIOS, a Cajal Bodies house

Old plates, printed to order.

KIOS is a made-to-order label from the Cajal Bodies studio in Tanjung Bira, South Sulawesi. Each chapter is drawn with one partner from the coast, laid out like a plate from an old natural-history book, and printed on cloth in water-based ink.

We sell in drops. A chapter opens for pre-order with a ship-by date we promise, then closes and goes to print. Everyone on the early access list gets the first 48 hours. Edition numbers follow the order in which pieces are ordered, and we ship worldwide.

Get early access Turn to the chapters
Before KIOS

The archive

Before there was a label, GaiaOne made its own shirts. Black tees and tanks with the emblem on the chest and a line on the back, a royal blue tee for Tevana House Reef, and one tee taken down to the reef. These are the 2022 designs, kept here as they were. KIOS starts where they left off.

Two divers underwater holding up a black GaiaOne tee printed with Save The Reefs and the coral emblem
Save The Reefs, the GaiaOne tee, underwater. Photo from GaiaOne.
  • Black tee, front with the GaiaOne emblem on the chest, back reading Coral Influencer above the coral emblem and Bira, South Sulawesi
    Coral Influencer, Bira, South Sulawesi. Front and back.
  • Royal blue tee with the Tevana House Reef mark on the back
    Tevana House Reef, royal blue.
  • Black tee reading #GirlsThatCoral on the back above the coral emblem
    #GirlsThatCoral.
  • Black tee with a colourful sea creature drawn at the hem and Save The Reefs on the back
    A sea creature at the hem.
  • Black tank top with the coral emblem and #GirlsThatCoral on the back
    The tank, front and back.
Seragam, at the studio in Bira.
Seragam, at the studio in Bira. The coil drawn by Cajal Bodies. Plate 0's figures after Santiago Ramón y Cajal, 1899 to 1901.

Chapter 00

Seragam

KIOSCajal Bodies

Seragam means uniform. This is what the studio wears to work in Bira: a plum work shirt with our coil on the pocket, a chalk bucket hat for the sun, and Plate 0, where the coil sits beside nerve cells drawn by Santiago Ramón y Cajal.

In 1903 Cajal drew a small body inside the nucleus of the nerve cell. It was later named after him, and we took our name and our mark from it.

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  • The work shirt, worn
    Fig. 1Work shirtPlum · coil embroidered on the pocket · woven label inside the yoke
  • Plate 0, framed
    Fig. 2Plate 0Cotton rag paper · 30 × 40 cm · numbered by hand
  • The bucket hat, worn
    Fig. 3Bucket hatChalk twill · coil embroidered on the front
Kebun Karang at the jetty in Bira: the hair hood and rashguard, and the plate tee from the back.
Kebun Karang, at the jetty. Corals after Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur, 1904. Frames drawn by Cajal Bodies.

Chapter 01

Kebun Karang

KIOSGaiaOne

The coral garden. Haeckel's corals from 1904 meet the nursery frames at Tevana House Reef, where GaiaOne's ocean gardeners tie fragments of coral back onto the reef.

A coral repeat for a camp shirt and a kain panjang. The GaiaOne Coral Restoration tee, in a regular cut and a women's boxy crop: five of Haeckel's corals printed in flat colour on indigo, with GaiaOne's name set round them.

For the water, a blue black rashguard with the corals in their living colours, standing in rows down the sleeves, and a hair hood cut from the same cloth that keeps long hair in under a mask strap. For the boat, a stone cap with one coral outlined in coral red thread. And small things to carry home: stickers, a key tag, and a sunscreen in a printed pouch.

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  • The plate tee, worn, seen from the back
    Fig. 1Plate teeIndigo · five corals in flat colour · regular cut or women's boxy crop
  • The camp-collar shirt, worn
    Fig. 2Camp-collar shirt1 screen, water-based · 40 cm repeat
  • The rashguard, worn
    Fig. 3RashguardBlue black · living coral rows on the sleeves
  • The kain panjang, worn
    Fig. 4Kain panjang105 × 250 cm · kepala, tumpal, badan, pinggir
  • The hair hood, worn with the rashguard
    Fig. 5Hair hoodBlue black · the rashguard's coral rows · closed crown
  • The cap, worn
    Fig. 6CapStone · one coral from Tab. I, outlined in thread
Tubir 17, above the house reef.
Tubir 17, above the house reef. Turtles after Sowerby and Lear, 1872. Section drawn by Cajal Bodies.

Chapter 02

Tubir 17

KIOSTEVANA HOUSE REEF

Tubir is what Indonesian divers call the place where a reef drops off. At Tevana House Reef on Bara Beach it comes at seventeen metres, and past it there is open water.

This chapter draws that edge like a sounding on an old chart, with Sowerby and Lear's turtles of 1872 for Tortelluna and Kara, who live on the reef, and Haeckel's anemones for the cloth. Made for the dive school and the retreats.

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  • The freedive sun shirt, worn
    Fig. 1Freedive sun shirtBack print 32 × 44 cm · 0 to 17 m
  • The Tortelluna and Kara tee, worn
    Fig. 2Tortelluna and KaraFront print 30 × 36 cm
  • The kids Tortelluna and Kara tee, laid flat
    Fig. 3Tortelluna and Kara, kidsFront print 20 × 24 cm
  • The selendang retreat wrap, worn
    Fig. 4Selendang retreat wrap70 × 200 cm · kepala at both ends
  • The retreat set, worn
    Fig. 5Retreat setTank and drawstring pant · two small prints
Lemari Laut, at the dusk table on Bara Beach.
Lemari Laut, at the dusk table. Shells after Rumphius, 1705. Coastlines © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Chapter 03

Lemari Laut

KIOS

The sea cabinet. In 1705 Rumphius laid out the shells and crabs of the islands like a cabinet of curiosities. This chapter opens that cabinet on Bara Beach.

His shells for a dinner shirt, his crab on a slip dress, the waters in front of Seascapes drawn as an old sea chart, and the kitchen's own words on the apron: nasi lemak, ayam lalapan, mee hoon, tempe.

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  • The mandarin-collar dinner shirt, worn
    Fig. 1Mandarin-collar dinner shirt1 screen, water-based · 32 cm repeat
  • The sunset kain panjang, worn
    Fig. 2Sunset kain panjang105 × 250 cm · the chart as kepala
  • The kitchen apron and staff tee, worn
    Fig. 3Kitchen apron and staff teeThe crab over the kitchen's own words
  • The soundings tee, worn
    Fig. 4Soundings tee1 screen · three dive sites, true depths
  • The slip dress, worn
    Fig. 5Slip dressBack print 26 × 44 cm
Bekal Pantai, the kit on Bara Beach.
Bekal Pantai, on Bara Beach. Shells after Rumphius, 1705. Drawn by Cajal Bodies.

Chapter 03, the beach kit

Bekal Pantai

KIOS

Bekal is what you pack for a trip. In every room at Seascapes Bira there is one waiting for the two of you: a tote printed with Rumphius's shells, two pareos, two bucket hats, a dry pouch, a bottle to refill, sunscreen, after-sun and lip balm, and a field card for the water in front of your room.

Use it all while you stay. If you would like to take one home, ask at reception for a sealed kit. Bekal Pantai is made by KIOS and sold under the Seascapes name. The textile set (the tote, the pareos and the hats) ships worldwide; the dry pouch, the bottle, the sunscreen, after-sun and lip balm, and the field cards stay with the kit at Seascapes Bira.

In every room at Seascapes BiraGet early access
  • The textile set on Bara Beach: the tote, a pareo worn, a bucket hat
    Fig. 1The textile setThe tote, two pareos, two bucket hats · ships worldwide
  • A Bekal Pantai pareo, laid flat
    Fig. 2Two pareos110 × 180 cm · a sarong, a beach sheet, a boat scarf
  • The Bekal Pantai tote, laid flat
    Fig. 3The toteTab. III · the kit packs inside it
  • A Bekal Pantai bucket hat, laid flat
    Fig. 4Two bucket hatsOne each · a shell in the crown
Taman Makhluk, by lantern light: the camp-collar shirt, worn
Taman Makhluk, by lantern light. Warm Human, one specimen of many, pressed upon Musa uranoscopus after Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinense, 1747.

Chapter 04

Taman Makhluk

KIOSMythical Beings

The garden of beings. Every creature comes from the original Mythical Beings kit and is pressed into a plate among the plants of the old herbals of the archipelago.

Summon a specimen, keep the characters you love, and the plate you choose is printed for you alone. Ganesha and Hanuman are printed on the pieces worn on the upper body: the shirts, the selendang and the hat.

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  • The camp-collar shirt, worn
    Fig. 1Camp-collar shirtThe pesisir repeat, dropped half a step
  • The mandarin-collar shirt, worn
    Fig. 2Mandarin-collar shirtFrog closures · the plate across the back
  • The selendang, worn
    Fig. 3SelendangThe plate at each end, the name along the pinggir
  • The kain panjang, worn
    Fig. 4Kain panjang105 × 250 cm · laid out like batik
  • The bucket hat, worn
    Fig. 5Bucket hatReversible · a small plate inside the crown
KIOS NIGHT, on a rooftop over the bay at dusk: the cut-out slip, and the mesh crop with the sarong
KIOS NIGHT, on a rooftop over the bay at dusk. Prints carried over from five chapters, cut for the evening.

Chapter 05, the women's line

KIOS NIGHT

Eight pieces for the hours after the boat comes in. Each one carries a print the house has already drawn: the siphonophores first drawn for Kebun Karang, the nought to seventeen metre line from Tubir 17, the chart from Lemari Laut, the coil from Seragam, and one creature from Taman Makhluk, worked by hand into open knit.

The skin is in the cloth rather than in the cutting: mesh, open knit, sheer cupro. Two pieces are opened at the waist and at the side, and they are carried as their own patterns rather than as sizes, because a cut-out sits where the body is and does not grade. Every size run here is provisional until the first fit.

The signature piece is the glow overshirt. Its plate is new: six of Haeckel's Peridinea from 1904, printed in cream on blue-black, with a second screen of glow ink that lights the figures after dark. The photograph shows how the glow is meant to read, and the ink is proven on the first sample.

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  • The sheer slip, worn
    Fig. 1Sheer slip, low backCupro · bias cut · low back
  • The mesh crop, worn with the sarong
    Fig. 2Mesh crop, long sleeveMesh · long sleeve · the 0 to 17 m line
  • The open-knit top, worn with the micro shorts
    Fig. 3Open-knit topArtisan crochet · open knit
  • The sarong, worn with the mesh crop
    Fig. 4Sarong and hip scarf110 × 180 cm · one length, ties
  • The micro shorts, worn with the mesh crop
    Fig. 5Micro shortsStretch woven · the coil, in plum
  • The glow overshirt, worn at night
    Fig. 6Glow overshirtOrganic cotton · glow ink
  • The cut-out sheer slip, worn
    Fig. 7Sheer slip, cut-out waistCupro · bias cut · cut-out waist
  • The side-tie micro shorts, worn with the open-knit top
    Fig. 8Micro shorts, side-tieStretch woven · side-tie
The drop

How a drop works

Nothing is printed before it is ordered. Each chapter sells in one window, and every piece in that window is made for the person who ordered it.

  1. The window opens

    A chapter opens for pre-order, and the ship-by date is on the page before you order.

  2. The list first

    Everyone on the early access list gets the first 48 hours, before the chapter opens to all.

  3. Printed to order

    When the window closes, the chapter goes to print. Edition numbers follow the order in which pieces were ordered.

  4. Shipped by the date

    Your piece leaves by the ship-by date we promised, to wherever you are in the world.

Made to order. Printed with water-based ink.Worldwide shipping