Young
women in Japan no longer wear the kimono as they find its
many layers cumbersome, impractical, and not trendy.
This has really set me thinking on how I can redesign the
kimono so that it retains its elegance and charm while it is
more convenient to wear and appeals to women of all ages.
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The
collection will consist of tailored adaptations of the kimono,
consisting of two-pieces and separates as well as full-length
garments. It will
conform to traditional construction techniques of the kimono
but will fulfil the requirements of the Japanese woman today.
The typical customers will be in late twenties to late forties
and have a high disposable income, a deep interest in fashion
but also drawn with nostalgia to Japanese cultural roots. They
will be people who like to be dressed fashionably but prefer a
quirky one off, rather than mass-produced goods. The
inspiration comes from Textile View (Autumn 01, Issue 05)
“The whole season has a sense of theatre about it, a desire
to delve in to our cultural roots, to understand our heritage
and past before we move forward.”
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Influences
will be drawn from Japan and its ancient culture. Life in
Japan is structured so that everyone and everything has its
place and purpose; this will be reflected within the
collection. The sereneness of home life, liveliness of culture
festivals, traditional prints and kimono styles will all be
influential. In turn these traditions will be adapted to
become more modern by mixing them with the up and coming
western trends. For
example instead of all over prints, placement prints or
smaller sections of detail will become apparent. Colors in
Japan are drawn from the seasons.
Autumnal reds, copper, gold and indigo blues will be
kept and integrated into western season’s colors.
What
am I trying to do?
At
the moment I am still at the research stage of collecting
images and fabrics. I have some lovely Japanese kimono silks
on my board that I was sent by a company in London and I have
been looking into the technique of Sashiko as well. I am also
currently playing around with ideas for changing the shape of
the kimono that will in turn be developed into fashion
drawings that I will discuss next time.
The
designing of a collection can be separated into many processes
and the three basic ones are: research, design and produce.
Research is being gathered from many sources, for
example books, the Internet, and exhibitions and are collected
and put onto boards for inspiration at my work desk and later
put into sketch books along with ideas for my designs.
I
have looked at Japanese home life, textiles and patterns, as
well as the art of
origami as I am considering using the
technique as a way to incorporate
pleats and folds into my
clothes.
I have also
looked at the shape and design of the kimono, from the more
traditional to the popular yukata. I have made a basic
kimono shape (without the obi) to get a better idea of what
shapes I am working with.
Continued:
Project to redesign the Japanese kimono
Related:
Chirimen
Virginia
Fitzgerald Dress Project |
