The slow but steady lifting of restrictions in regards to COVID-19 in the last couple of weeks here in the UK means that, alas!, museums and exhibition spaces are opening their doors to the public again! I am more than thrilled about this – visiting museums and exhibitions form an important part of my life, providing me with inspirational insights into the practices of various artists and cultures … and, I have to admit, the experience is one that cannot be easily re-produced online (although there are definitely some mention-worthy attempts!).

So finally last week, after a long period of not engaging with art in this way, I ventured out to see Japan House‘s ‘RENOVATION: Kimono & Sustainability‘ display featuring contemporary kimono by texile artist Hiroko Takahashi (高橋理子).

Hiroko Takashashi is the founder of kimono brand HIROCOLEDGE which aims to blend ideas of art and fashion. The artist’s signature bold graphics consisting of geometric patterns such as circles and straight lines form part of most of her designs, representing the infiniteness found in the universe. There is a big focus on sustainability within the brand as well, and this is showcased through the kimono which are part of the ‘RENOVATION’ project displayed at Japan House.

As part of the project, Takahashi sourced old kimono and unstitched, de-colourised, and then re-dyed them with her signitaure geometric patterns. In the past, a significant aspect of everyday kimono culture was the continued re-use of the precious materials, which included the taking apart and re-tayloring of garments to make them into new pieces. This practice is mainly lost now, but Takahashi would like to re-engage consumers with this form of appreciation and usage.

This is a truly inspiring display, so I encourage anyone with an interest in fashion, textiles and design to visit Japan House and study the garments in close detail themselves!

Japan House
Renovation: Kimono & Sustainability
5 August – 7 September 2020

All images © Carolin Becke.

On February 28th, I attended the ‘Kimono Magic Society: Kimono Bash’ event held at the Royal College of Art in London. The Kimono Magic Society consists of the designers and creators behind contemporary kimono fashion brands Rumi Rock, Modern Antenna, Tamao Shigemune (重宗玉緒) and iroca, who all have their designs featured in the ‘Kimono: From Kyoto to Catwalk‘ exhibition currently held at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The event mainly consisted of a fun and practical exploration of contemporary kimono. Besides being able to try on kimono and obi, attendees could also get their hands on customising their own obi to go with a coordinate put together by one of the brands. Below you can see my and a fellow attendees attempt in styling an obi for a Rumi Rock outfit.

Another part of the event was the ‘Kimono in Conversation’ discussion facilitated by Sarah Cheang, senior tutor at the Royal College of Art, Elizabeth Kramer, senior lecturer at Northumbria University, Clare Johnston, a textile designer based in London, and the infamous Sheila Cliffe, a kimono researcher, stylist and influencer based in Tokyo. The conversation centered around kimono as a fashionable garment, with the panelists sharing their individual encounters with kimono, and engaging with the audience on questions of the past and current state of kimono in Japan.

One of the most interesting insights that came out of the panel for me was this statement by Sheila who commented on the body and kimono, challenging a long held stereotype on the garment: ‘The idea that the kimono ignores the body is a misunderstanding. The kimono does not ignore the body. In fact, the fitting in Western clothes is done at the cutting stage; you cut the clothes to fit the body. So, unless you have something tailor-made, it actually does not fit the body. YOU have to fit into a size 12, or size 14. […] Whereas kimono, there is fitting. The fitting takes place in the dressing process, not the cutting process. And because it takes place in the dressing process, when you fold and wrap, you can fit it perfectly to the body without cutting anything.’ The idea that kimono ignores the body never sat right with me, but I could not precisely articulate why. Sheila managed to completely break down the idea however, presenting a highly convincing argument which I will now use as well!

Overall, this was a very engaging and fun event which managed to find a good balance between physical engagement with the garments, as well as some contextualising debates on them. It would be great to keep the conversation going and have more encounters like this in the near future!

The Kimono Magic Society also hosted a pop-up exhibition and shop at Sway Gallery in East London, which I will cover in my next blog post so stay tuned!