Kimono As Art

The first major book on Japanese textile artist Itchiku Kubota, published to accompany a touring exhibition.

Highlights from one of the world’s most outstanding collections of traditional Japanese kimonos, with stunning examples from the Edo period through the twentieth century In traditional Japanese dress, the surface of the garment is most important. The T-shaped, straight-seamed, front-wrapping kimono has changed its shape very little over the centuries, but the weaving, dyeing, and embroidery used to decorate its surface make each a unique, wearable work of art. Choice of color and pattern vary richly to indicate gender, age, status, wealth, and taste, and are executed in a complex combination of weaving, dyeing, and embroidery techniques, with a single garment sometimes requiring the expert skills of a number of different artisans. Kimono showcases a magnificent range of kimonos from the the Khalili Collection, which comprises more than 200 garments and spans almost 300 years of Japanese textile artistry. Gorgeously illustrated and written by an international team of experts, the book surveys kimono of the imperial court, samurai aristocracy, and affluent merchant classes of the Edo period (1603–1868); the shifting styles and new color palette of Meiji period dress (1868–1912); and the bold and dazzling kimono of the Taisho (1912–26) and early Showa (1926–89) periods, when designers used innovative new techniques and fused traditional looks with inspiration from the modernist aesthetic then sweeping the world.

The book explores the use and meaning of the kimono in America and traces the transformation of the garment from its ethnic origins, through its many appearances in fine art, costume, and high fashion, to its role in the contemporary Art-to-Wear Movement. It explores the American use of the kimono as a garment, as a symbol, and as an art form.

What is the kimono? Everyday garment? Art object? Symbol of Japan? As this book shows, the kimono has served all of these roles, its meaning changing across time and with the perspective of the wearer or viewer. Kimono: A Modern History begins by exposing the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century foundations of the modern kimono fashion industry. It explores the crossover between ‘art’ and ‘fashion’ in this period at the hands of famous Japanese painters who worked with clothing pattern books and painted directly onto garments. With Japan’s exposure to Western fashion in the nineteenth century, and Westerners’ exposure to Japanese modes of dress and design, the kimono took on new associations and came to symbolize an exotic culture and an alluring female form. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the kimono industry was sustained through government support. The line between fashion and art became blurred as kimonos produced by famous designers were collected for their beauty and displayed in museums, rather than being worn as clothing. Today, the kimono has once again taken on new dimensions, as the Internet and social media proliferate images of the kimono as a versatile garment to be integrated into a range of individual styles. Kimono: A Modern History, the inspiration for a major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,not only tells the story of a distinctive garment’s ever-changing functions and image, but provides a novel perspective on Japan’s modernization and encounter with the West.

This distinctive volume reveals a unique antique kimono collection through various delicate Japanese colors and their use in kimono. The Japanese sensibility is immediately apparent in the classification of the nine traditional color categories of red, green, pink, blue, brown, purple, yellow, black/white, and gold/silver. Each spread in Kimono and the Colors of Japan presents a single color showing a page-wide photo of a kimono accompanied by a description of the color and its meaning in the context of Japanese culture. The author explains, "We organized the kimono and obi (sash) according to what I like to call 'Japanese Kokoro no Iro', colors of the Japanese heart. Each category presents what individual colors express or signify. For example, we use white, black and gold as an expression of cheer. Red indicates the sun, blood, and fire. White, black, and silver express sadness." With the knowledge of both Western and traditional Japanese fashion cultures, Yumioka presents and describes his collection in an easily accessible style.

"High-quality color photographs and period pictures illustrate this sumptuous volume, which should interest experts and laymen alike." --Choice The Japanese kimono is celebrated worldwide for its elegant, distinctive silhouette. Though quintessentially Japanese, the kimono form has influenced fashion designers around the globe. The 150 stunning kimonos in this beautifully illustrated book were created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and they include formal, semi-formal, and casual kimono, haori jackets, and under-kimono (juban) worn by men, women, and children. Some of the garments reflect historical styles of design and techniques, while others illustrate a dramatic break with aspects of kimono tradition, as themes and designs from Western art began to predominate over Japanese references. The book, published to accompany a major traveling exhibition, traces the history of the kimono and illustartes the variety of colors, techniques, and designs used in creating this beautiful and symbolic garment. The kimonos featured here are drawn from the internationally renowned Montgomery Collection of Lugano, Switzerland.

See/Saw offers a provocative new look at the origins of Japanese pop art. Often defined by its references to manga or anime, contemporary Japanese art in fact has much broader roots. By drawing parallels between the art of Japan past and present, this compelling volume reveals how current artists rework the traditional forms and techniques of Japanese art history. Modern takes on time-honored conventions are illustrated by the work of a star-studded roster of contemporary artists including Tabaimo, Makoto Aida, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, and Yayoi Kusama. Aficionados of both contemporary and traditional Japan are sure to appreciate this fresh perspective on art and the power of visual culture.

Japanese kimonos are wearable art. Celebrating the patterns and motifs adorning the traditional costumes, 30 ready-to-color illustrations present kimono-clad figures awash in pastoral scenes and wandering abstracts.