The Rise Of Kimonomania by Tako Natsvlishvili

THE RISE OF KIMONO MANIA 着物の五⼗十シェード

着物の

Tamara Natsvlishvili

Contemporary Fashion Project Level 4A Coursework 3

Amanda Montanari

INDEX

インデックス

Introduction

7 Origins of Kimono

9-10 The Foundations of a Kimono Fashion Industry

11-12 Worldwide and Japanese Designers

13-18 Cinema&Celebrities

19-20 Rise of Kimono Mania

21-23

Street Style 2018-2019

24 The Future of Kimono

Introduction

Identifiable by its T-shaped silhouette, shuddering sleeves and sleek vertical panels hung from wearer's shoulders, the kimono assimilates Japan, genuine and romanticized, familiar and unknown. In the popular insight, the kimono often portrays an eternal, traditionoriented, Japan. In any case, how and when did the recognizable proof of kimono as Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s national outfit happen? what impact did kimono have on style and how it is seen by contemporary fashion creators? what procedures prompted the change of the kimono from a symbol of Japan to ordinary piece of clothing? From the late 1960s until the early 1990s, the Kimono was primarily promoted as a costume suitable for special occasions such as New Year's celebrations or adult day ceremonies, or other traditional dress code events, linking the kimono more closely with tradition rather than fashion. From 1990, Japanese designers in high fashion, had huge influence on changing kimonoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role, they turned it from traditional costume to a fashion trend. Other European designers were also inspired by Japanese fashion and used kimonos as coats, gowns and in many different silhouettes in their collections. Nowadays, kimono is not just a traditional and occasional attribute, kimonos feature on many red carpets, latest ready-to-wear collections and most often in street style fashion. Kimono has been turned into a fashion phenomenon which can be found in almost every woman's wardrobe, even as a nightwear.

Vogue Japan, January 2018 Editorial “Culture of Kimono” Source: vogue.co.jp Photo © Peter Lindberg

oRIGINS OF KIMONO

Courtesans Promenading Under Blossoming Cherry 1781-1789 Source: John C. Weber Collection, photo ÂŠ John Bigelow Taylor

A kimono â&#x20AC;&#x201D; truly interpreted as "worn", the advanced kimono began being worn during the Japanese Heian Period (794-1185). It was frequently worn with the Chinese-influenced hakama (a sort of long skirt with or without a division to isolate the legs, like pants), or a kind of apron known as mo. afterwards It became fashionable to wear the kimono without the hakama. This implied that the wearer required another approach to hold the robe closed; thus, the obi, the wide band worn around the waist, was born. From 8th to 11th century, Japanese style of layering silk robes was established. In any case, it was not until the Heian time frame that the straight-line cut technique was introduced with the Japanese textile industry. This system kimono making easier, as it included cutting straight lines of fabrics and sewing them together. Japanese tailors never again needed to stress over the state of the wearer's body. Rather, they could make kimonos for individuals of any size, without concerning about the fit.

10 Kosode an origin of kimono

Costume for Noh players (1999.) Source: The Kyoto Museum of Traditional Crafts, FUREAIKAN. Photo Â© Tadayuki Minamoto.

11 The Foundations of a Kimono in Fashion Industry

In the late nineteenth century kimonos and materials from Japan caught the enthusiasm of many people in Western nations. Ladies in America and Europe made dresses from Japanese kimono textiles and even unstitched kimonos to create new dresses. They also wore kimonos as indoor wear. Nineteenth-century artworks by European and American painters vary in kimono as an image of an exotic Japan. Visual sources from the mid-nineteenth century strengthened the Western impression of the kimono as a gown or bathrobe. In 1864, James Tissot finished the drawing entitled "La Japonaise au bain". In the work of art, a Caucasian lady rises up out of the shower, with more practical version of a kimono. In Tissot's painting, the impact of the kimono serving as a shower robe, the lady being nearly unclothed and the inside setting including Japanese sliding paper entryways, cherry blooms and an open window in the background, obviously positions the kimono in a fantasized intriguing sensual setting.

La Japonaise au Bain 1864 by James Tissot. ÂŠ Wikimedia Commons.

Madame Hériot 1882 by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. © Wikimedia Commons.

1911 Kimono Coat by Paul Poiret. © The Kyoto Costume Institute.

From this period, the structure and state of dress changed as designers moved far from following with the shape of the human body and started to innovate the shape of kimono into more loose range of forms. Modified designs and styles of the T-formed kimono were produced specially for American, British, Chinese and Japanese markets, which changed the kimono's shape, meaning and function. The piece of clothing as an ordinary or formal clothing was progressively altered into new markets into loungewear through 'robes' or 'tea gowns’.

Dancer Ruth St Denis 1920. Source: © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Photo [Anon.]

Designers

One of the iconic appearances of kimono in cinema was in “Shanghai Express” worn by an American actress Marlene Dietrich, the costume was designed by Yves saint Laurent special for the movie. Yves Saint Laurent visited to Japan many times and researched the aesthetics and the iconography of Japanese culture. He was enthusiastic about the nation, creating a collection of items and books on Japanese culture that became source of inspiration for the designer. The Yves Saint Laurent Autumn-Winter 1994 collection's evening looks celebrated Japan send Japanese style by referencing kimonos. The traditional costume turned into a formal coat worn over a dress. Laurent preserved the original classic shape of the kimono with its baggy sleeves and one-fold overlapping the other.

Yves Saint Laurent 1994 Haute Couture . © The Guardian.

Marlene Dietrich In “ Shanghai Express” 1932 . Source: © Pinterest. Photo [Anon.].

Saint Laurent in Japan, Tokyo, 1963. © Musée Yves Saint Laurent

1994 John Galliano Fall Ready-ToWear collection in Paris Source: Vogue.com Photo © Guy Marineau

A British couturier John Galliano’s collection combined the East and West of Japanese kimonos. In 1994, Galliano's Ready-To-wear Fall collection reflected the Japanese culture. Kimonos were shown in various shapes and styles. In 2007 Kimonos were introduced by John Galliano as a major aspect of French fashion house Dior's SpringSummer 2007 Haute Couture collection in Paris. 2007 Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring Collection in Paris Source: vogue.com Photo © Marcio Madeira

1997 Givenchy by Alexander McQueen Haute Couture F/W © Pinterest

2010 Alexander McQueen F/W Ready-To-Wear Source: vogue.com Photo © Christopher Moore

ETRO was and is inspired by fabrics that tell a story of culture, thus Japan has been one of the essential source of inspiration for this brand. The shapes of Etro’s kimono alter in different ways, the contemporary and modern vibes is obvious in the collection. But the fabric designs is very Japaneseaesthetics.

2008 Etro Spring Ready To Wear Collection Source: Vogue.com Photo © Marcio Madeira

2013 Etro Spring / Summer Ready To Wear Collection Source: GoRunway.com Photo © Marcus Tondo

17 JAPANESE DESIGNERS In 1980-1990s, emerging Japanese designers have gained huge influence around fashion world. Many views the creations of Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo as merging of Eastern and Western aesthetic traditions. They made unconventional, avant-garde pieces during the Paris fashion scene the 1980s. The Japanese designer's utilization of creative and unusual development and deconstruction techniques, joined with an abstract approach, changed Western thoughts of beauty, shapes, designs and functions of garments. In the primary decade of the twenty-first century, Yohji Yamamoto based his thoughts regarding liberating kimonos on his perceptions of Japanese style that were prominent a century earlier.

Yohji's capacity to rise above the cultural limitations that corresponded Japan and the kimono, helped him to determine himself as a worldwide fashion designer.

Yumi Lambert in Yphji Yamamoto A/W 2015, Magazine L’express Source: models.com. Photo © Yusuke Miyazaki

2015 Yohji Yamamoto Fall / Winter Ready To Wear Collection Source: vogue.com.

Photo © Monica Feudi

2016-17 Fall / Winter Comme Des Garçons The Art Of The In-Between exhibition New York. Source: WWD Photo © Josh Scott

Rei Kawakubo who designed under the brand Comme Des Garçons, also represented her collections in Paris. She built a universe that offered freedom and comfy to the wearer. Kawakubo's structures neglect any requirement for symmetry – or, undoubtedly, the systematized methods for using the human body. Thus, Kawakubo's kimonos appeared to be loose, asymmetric and voluminous. Kawakubo has returned over and over to irregular, boxy, bulging forms that – in their most extreme structures.

2018 Issey Miyake Ready To Wear Spring/Summer Source: nowfashion.com Photo © Regis Colin

2017 Issey Miyake Homme Plissé collection Spring Source: isseymiyake.com Photo © Charles Negre

Rei was famous for her four-armed jackets, she added paddings in unexpected places of garment, she explains that the idea was to break any self-limiting formality down.

KIMONO ON SCENE

2005 Ziyi Zhang in “Memories Of Geisha” © Colleen Atwood in Memoirs of a Geisha

2002 - Lucy Liu in “Kill Bill” © Wikipedia

2008 Katherine Heigl in “27 Dresses” © rotten tomatoes

1999 Natalie portman in “Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace” Source © IMDB

1997 Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in”Titanic” © Photofest

CELEBRITIES

David Bowie performs concert in 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon. Photo © Gijsbert Hanekroot/Getty Images

Princess Diana at Nijo Castle on May 9, 1986 in Kyoto, Japan. Photo © The Asahi Shimbunn via Getty Images

2000 Madonna at the Grammy awards wearing Jean Paul Gaultier red kimono. Source: Harpers bazaar.com Photo © Frank Micelotta/Gettyimages

Queen Live At Nippon Budokan Freddie Mercury In Kimono. Tokyo, March 22, 1976. Photo © Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images

2015 Lady Gaga at the Costume Institute Gala (MET Gala) in a kimono-inspired look by Balenciaga. Source: New York Times Photo © Josh Haner

2017 in New York City. Nicki Minaj at "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between” MET Gala Source: Getty Images Photo © Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

KIMONO IN CONTEMPORARY FASHION

Kimono has changed its functions many times, but today, it's still on-going trend, fashion phenomenon which one day, was only a cultural icon, however, the kimono is no longer just a traditional clothing, but a casual garment which can be worn on different occasions and in different styles: as a dress, as a robe, as a nightwear and etc. Gisele Bundchen on Vogue Paris 2004, photographed by Mario Testing is wearing kimono as a nightwear. Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in TV series ‘’Sex and The City’’ appeared numerous times with the kimono-robes.

THE RISE OF KIMONOMania 2019 Collections For the Spring and Summer 2019 collections, the Creative directors were inspired by Japan and breakthrough into its assortments . Etro, John Galliano at Maison Margiela, Kim jones at Dior, Gucci gave the pieces a sophisticated touch through the Japanese aesthetics, The idea from the Yukata summer coat and kimono is clear in their structures.

STREET STYLE 2018-19

June 22, 2018 in Paris, FranceDuring Paris Fashion Week - Menswear Spring-Summer 2019 Photo © Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

25 FUTURE OF KIMONO

2012 Vogue Australia April Issue Source:models.com Photo ÂŠ Nicole Bentley

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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