Modern kimono designs with contemporary twists: four designers updating the traditional Japanese clothing
- From large, graphic prints to blending motifs from East and West, these designers are taking the kimono in very different directions
- Jotaro Saito believes that to survive in a society full of fast-fashion, the kimono needs to be reinvented as fashionable and not just a cultural throwback
Unencumbered by tradition, a new generation of designers are taking the kimono, a time-honoured item of Japanese clothing, in very different directions – and in the process, making it more accessible.
Their work is likely to feed growing international recognition and appreciation of the kimono, as shown by an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London titled “Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk”.
Among the works on display are traditional kimono from the early 1800s, modern-day designs, kimono depicted in Japanese woodblock prints and scrolls, and even the kimono-inspired costume of Obi-wan Kenobi, played by Sir Alec Guinness in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
Here are four designers keeping the kimono alive and updating it for a 21st-century audience.
