Kimono conquers the world

Kimono conquers the world

Kimono, a stimulus for fashion worldwide

At the moment, the kimono enjoys a prominence like never.For a while, it was considered an exclusive garment for ceremonies, but now its use, both in Japan and abroad, as an elegant dress for day to day.In addition, foreign designers consider it a source of inspiration, something that is reflected in various ways in their creations.In the fashion world, it usually implies to redesign the garments of the different peoples;Kimono has motivated a large number of proposals.

One of the most recent is the Knight coat that John Galliano designed for the Maison Margiela brand as part of his spring-summer 2018 collection 2018.The fabric was from an OBI - Kimono's fuck or belt - old man who stood out for his color and pomp.Another example is found in the autumn-winter 2017 collection by Christian Louboutin, wonderful fabric ankle boots with motifs such as bamboo, plums and crab, all of them inspired by the kimonos of the second half of the period Edo.

Booties of the 2017 autumn-winter collection by Christian Louboutin.© Kyoto Fashion Institute

We are especially interested in the gentleman's suits that were part of the Spring-Summer 2016 collection of Thom Browne.These are costumes to use, with the sobriety characteristic of these clothes, which have been given a modern and pop touch including reasons for a kimono;His prints are the result of the thorough work of Japan's own crafts.

Knight costumes from the Spring-Summer 2016 collection by Thom Browne.© Fashion Press

If we go back in time, we also meet renowned designers who gave prominence to Japan's own fashion culture: a few years ago, Alexander McQueen;long before, Iives Saint Laurent and Cristóbal Balenciaga;In the 1920s, Madeleine Vionnet and Paul Poiret;At the end of the 19th century, Jacques Doucet.There was something - it is not known very well what - of the kimono that interested all of them.

El kimono conquista el mundo

Jacques Doucet's day dress with Siberia sheets and lilies, Circa 1897.Photography: Hayashi Masayuki.© Kyoto Fashion Institute

Japanese and interest in kimonos

The answer is found in extremely interesting facts.In the seventeenth century, the Dutch Company of the Eastern Indies took a cotton stuffed kimon of the edo period from Japan.That light and exotic shelter garment would become a value gown of value.Its success was such that many copies were distributed, even in neighboring countries, and often appeared in portraits of the time.

Batas exhibited in "Japanese and fashion", an exhibition held in 1996 in Tokyo.Photography: Hatakeyama Naoya.© Kyoto Fashion Institute

In the second half of the nineteenth century, time of Japanese - auge of Japanese culture - many Japanese works reached different parts of the world;Among them, the ukiyo-e xylographs, which influenced the impressionist painters, as well known.Kimono also had an outstanding representation in his art.

It could be said that Parisian fashion and kimono converged naturally.This beautiful and exotic garment conquered French women, who put it to walk at home, and the fabric to make clothes that marked trend began to be wearing.Shortly after, the silk decorated with Japanese motifs broke into Paris's fashion.

The designers of the French capital were the ones who gave importance, at the beginning of the 20th century, to the elegance of putting a kimono.Around 1910, successively silhouette coats were presented and dresses inspired by kimonos such as the Uchikake - long -sleeved silk silk kimono and rich ornaments that are usually used at weddings - that wore the beautiful women's protagonists of the xylographies.In addition, details related to the way of putting the kimonus themselves, such as the Nukiemon, which consists of placing the cervix in such a way that the neck is revealed, the use of long sleeves and an obicolorful.

In the 1920s, creators such as Madeleine Vionnet and Paul Poiret, avant -garde in their time, they looked in the cut of some Kimonos, tea shaped, and made a fashion based on cylindrical shapes of straight lines sewing several rectangular fabrics.Western fashion, in which the three -dimensional cut traditionally prevailed, now had new methods.From that moment, the possibilities increased thanks to the freedom of ways, since, until then, the clothes had been made to adapt to the body.The influence of the kimono went beyond the mere superficial taste for the exotic and spread for all aspects of fashion.

Paul Poiret dress, 1920.Photography: Hayashi Masayuki.© Kyoto Fashion Institute

The exhibition "Kimono Refashioned", in which a review is made from different angles to the relationship between kimono and western fashion from the second half of the nineteenth century and to this day, it was inaugurated in October 2018 in the museumof Newark and, later, in February 2019, at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum;In June it will arrive in Cincinnati, where it will be until September.It has been possible thanks to the collaboration between the Kyoto Fashion Institute and the three American museums where it has been or will be.In addition to kimono as an element of inspiration in the fashion of the West, the work of Japanese designers is also presented in the exhibition, that is, their legacy.

The exhibition "Kimono Refashioned" at the Newark Museum in 2018.© Mike Peters

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