Have you a thing to wear?
Bet you will have something in your wardrobe that's based on it ...
Ki 'to wear' Mono 'thing'
Kimono,
because I have just completed a project centred around such a garment and I must share it with my friends from Bexleyheath Technology Dept.....(do you remember?)
https://sites.google.com/site/wwwsewroundcom/projects-people-participants/2019---my-silk-road-project
A kimono is a garment of rectangular pieces of fabric, and when not worn, it is a totally flat construction. Flat clothes tend to hide the curves of the human form.
The space between the kimono garment and the body is referred to as 'ma' and is considered an area of energy. (That is pertinent regard RK/CdG clothing.)
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| "Swift Stream' Kimono, 1961 |
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| Furisode with Flowing Water & Irises, 19th Century |
For an extremely thorough lesson in how to wear a kimono, view this very good video on the subject. I can see that I have my Obi sash placed too low.
2019 has seen a wonderful exhibition 'KIMONO REFASHIONED' tour the gobe.
The Kimono developed into an everyday item of clothing during the Kamakura Period. Worn by both men and women, it was used to differentiate social classes, marital status of women, seasons and social occasions, by way of the patterns, embroidery, fabric and colours that were presented on the kimono.
During the Edo Period (1603 - 1868) the art of kimono-making was developed into a specialized craft.
In the Meiji Period (1868 - 1912), the Japanese government encouraged people to adopt Western clothing styles, which slowly affected the popularity of the Kimono.
Take a small tour of some of the glorious exhibits in the exhibition via this site. Beautiful kimonos and kimono inspired garments.
https://thedesigntourist.com/tag/fashion-exhibit/
This is a link to an interesting conference event, which ran in conjunction with the exhibition. For those of us interested in this type of thing, it's great, the next best thing to being there (especially if you are into the Japanese designers, who hit the fashion scene in the 1980s/90s). It kicks off about 8 minutes in, past all the sponsorship stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBOeadfaIcw
The reference to kimono and oil paintings from late 1800s interests me...
In 1888 Vincent wrote in one of his many prolific letters, "all my work is based to some extent on Japanese art..."
Vincent collected a huge number of Japanese prints when he lived in Paris, and over 100 of his letters refer to Japan. He appreciated Japanese art on both a formal and a spiritual level.
One of his paintings 'The Courtesan (after Eisen)'
and this poignant self-portrait has one of his beloved Japanese prints in the back ground.
The Courtauld Institute of Art provides an interesting analysis of this painting
https://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/collection/impressionism-post-impressionism/van-gogh-self-portrait
and this is a great explanation of how Japanese prints influenced Vincent's work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boxyIJrNxRg
Just one last connection, if you're really into Vincent and Japan, an interesting lecture, again kicks off about 8 minutes in, past all that sponsorship thanking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mnBo87-T80
Japanese designers, Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake,both demonstrated kimono inspired work in early collections. Their designs brought a modern interpretation to the traditional kimono.
Kawakubo traces one of her fundamental influences to the kimono, and its ability to express a shapeless body. Remember the above comment concerning 'ma'. Kawakubo's early works introduced both 'mu' (emptiness) expressed through a monochromatic colour palette, such as black, and 'ma'(space), embodied in the outsize, contourless, loose-fitting garments that create excess space between skin and fabric, body and clothing.
Rei Kawakubo
https://daman.co.id/homme-plisse-issey-miyakes-new-capsule-to-feature-japanese-iconic-erotica-print/
KenzoTakada designed these kimono inspired creations. (I was into Kenzo way before I knew of Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo)
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| Kosode with plum tree & flowering plants design, early 19th century |
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| Kenzo F/W 2008 |
Jean Paul Gaultier
Alexander McQueen
These are the 4 Geishas, who introduce the collection.
Watch this video of the collection, it's quite glorious.(You may want to speed it up in some places!)
These links take you to two of John Galliano collections, which demonstrate strong Japanese/kimono influences/inspirations.
Now for a cool Vogue magazine fashion shoot carried out in Honshu, north east main island of Japan. The photographic concept is by Tim Walker, and anything by this guy is fantastic.
Currently there is a 'Tim Walker: Wonderful Things' exhibition at the V&A. This link is a good way to experience his "fantastical world", if you can't get there in person.
https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/tim-walker
This fashion shoot involves GEN H-4 helicopters (the smallest helicopters in the world), Japanese botanical gardens with the classic stone sculptures, Japanese tattoos (touched on in a previous blog), Geminoid android and creator...work out which is which...and Butoh dancers. Yoshito Ohno, son of Kazuo Ohno who was a co-founder of Butoh dance, features in a number of the photos.
Butoh, Bu (dance) toh(stomping of the foot on the ground), came out of the confused aftermath of the Second World War. Japan had experienced massive human loss, humiliation and occupation, which presented a challenging test for the Japanese psyche. The collaborating founding figures of Butoh, Hijikata Tatsumi and Ohno Kazuo, brought together various influences, such as German Expressionism, European literature and Japanese culture, and produced a somewhat challenging dance form.
Butoh can express images of perversity, eroticism, insanity, deformity and death. One of the first dances to come out of this new form was inspired by homoerotic undercurrents in Yukio Mishima's novel, 'Forbidden Colours'. (That is probably a whole story in itself.)
I remember seeing the Sankai Juku Butoh Dance Company at Sadlers Wells in 2001. It was an amazing dance form to watch, slowly, slowly, the dancers expressed their movements.
Watch this video, I think it captures a strong element of butoh, especially what Tim Walker presented in his photographic shoot.
The title of Tim Walker's shoot 'An Artist of the Floating World', is taken from the wonderful author, Kazuo Ishiguro's.......
This novel is set in post World War 2, when Japan was dealing with its rapidly changing environment. An aging artist is looking back on life, trying to adjust to his past, yet also cope with the future. It is worth a read, as are all Ishiguro novels.
There is something about Butoh that makes me think of Noh Theatre. Is it the white makeup?
Noh Theatre spans hundreds of years of Japanese culture, and I comprehend only a tenth of it, if that! It originated in the 14th century, and involves music, dance and drama.
This site provides good information about Noh Theatre, if you wish to know more.
A strong element of Noh is the masks, which all of the various characters wear.
This is an excellent guide to the masks that feature in Noh Theatre.
I am interested in the influence of Noh in Akira Kurosawa films. Two of his films I am most familiar with, Throne of Blood and Ran, definitely convey an influence.
In Throne of Blood, which is based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, the character Asaji (Lady Macbeth) has a fixed expression reminiscent of a Noh mask, suggesting restraint or suppressed emotion. Asaji appears cold and impassive, with her face resembling Fukai or Shakumi. (See the above site re the Noh masks)
One of my favourite Kurosawa films is Ran, which translates as chaos or turmoil. The plot is inspired by Shakespeare's King Lear. Hidetora, an aging warlord decides to divide his kingdom among his three sons.
Kurosawa used Noh Theatre influence to express Hidetora's spiral into madness. The make up used on Hidetora recalls recognisable masks of Noh theatre, especially when he emerges from the burning fortress after failing to commit suicide. His face is set in a rigid Noh mask of insanity.
An amazing character in Ran, is Lady Kaede. A very scary woman, who wore wonderful kimonos,
especially this one..the mix of colours and patterns, is what I like.
Costume designer, Emi Wada, won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Ran.
Wada wrote this wonderful book about her life in costume design. It has such a cool stitched fabric cover. So my thing.
Want to know a bit more about Ran? This might give you some good reasons for trying to track it down.
Another fashion shoot, with a strong Japanese influence, but why titled 'buy a tool kit'?
and I do like the kimono inspired sleeves in this little sheer jacket.
For his 2006 Spring/Summer 'Scanners' collection, Alexander McQueen presented a model wearing a massive kimono attempting to walk in a wind tunnel.
McQueen's comment "I wanted it (the collection) to be like a nomadic journey across the tundra, a big, desolate space, so that nothing would distract from the work."
One of the garments in this collection was a kimono jacket made of black silk, matching pencil skirt and long gloves.
Like to have a go at making it?
Alexander McQueen provided a pattern, based on the above garment, for Nick Knight's ShowStudio Design Downloads. Lots of challenging creative fun!
Download it through this site.
This is the pattern when all the A4 pieces are taped together!
The front piece.
I've made heaps of tailor tacks to help me with all the various lines and dots, and what look like a number of curved darts. Could be fun!
I think I would call this my first prototype, I'm aware things didn't go exactly right, but it's wearable
Maybe you would like to go more traditional?
You can download a PDF of John Marshall's 'Make Your Own Japanese Clothes'. He provides extremely thorough information regard all the different kimono that can be made. I used his instructions to make the tabi socks for my Silk Road Project.
And this is a cool video about how to draft the pattern and construction of a 'Boho Kimono Dress'. It creates a fab summer dress.
I made this one.
And another kimono inspired garment.
A friend gave me a shawl she no longer used, thinking I could do something with it, and I did. With a bit of cutting and matching up of pieces, I created this ....
courtesy of my Issey Miyake pattern collection, those reminiscent of a kimono
Try some cultural fusion...
Cameroonian Serge Mouangue, joined forces with Japanese designer, Kururi, to produce traditional kimono in African prints, sourced from Nigeria to Senegal. 'Wafrica'.
Maya Caulfield expresses her Japanese and Scottish heritage.
What about cool kimono inspired casual wear
and something a little different, NEBUKURO//DARK GREY by design label fluo.
"It is inspired by kimonos and the work of Issey Miyake.
An oval shaped sleeping bag, luxurious comfort combined with freedom of movement. Wear it like a kimono or a cocoon."
There is something majestic about it.
One last item for those who are die hard Rie Kawakubo fans.
A Rei Kawakubo Frock Coat, described as a boxy oversized silhouette.
Part 1 offers a full description of the garment, focusing on the appearance and the construction.
Part 2 interprets the garment as it relates to Rei Kawakubo's influence in clothing design, with the kimono being a contributing factor.
So, the kimono, offers lot's of creative fun.
SLTSLTBsigning off, for 2019.
