The Evolution of Kimono

"Kimono", which simply means "a thing to wear" has more than a thousand year history. But it is from the 16th century onwards that it became the main item of dress for almost everyone in Japan, regardless of class, gender or age. This dynamic part of Japanese dress has influenced global fashion in ways we're only beginning to understand. This exhibit uses one of the world's most significant collections of Kimono - The Khalili Collections - to chart the evolution of the Kimono and spotlight its profound impact on Western culture.  

The basic shape and construction of the kimono has remained the same for centuries. Usually, a single bolt of fabric would form the body and sleeves of the kimono and sometimes be used for the neckband and collar. The length of fabric would be draped over the shoulder and cover the body down to the hemline, sewn together through a central seam running down the back. Later, sleeves would be attached and finally the neckband and collar. The garment would wrap around the body, left side over right, and secured with a sash, known as obi. The ‘T’ shape then created on the back of the garment would become the canvas on which designers and weavers would unleash their creativity. 

The Meiji period was defined by its drive towards both Westernisation and industrialisation, kickstarted by Japan opening its borders to the world in the 1860s leading the rapid import of Western culture and technologies. Importantly for kimono, this included synthetic dyes as well as a number of Western design motifs. 

In late nineteenth century Europe and America, the kimono signified something artistic, fashionable, exotic and, at times, non-conformist. In the aesthetic interior it could denote a woman’s social confinement, while hinting at the supposed eroticism of the East. Kimono could be bought in shops such as Liberty’s, but the actual wearing of them was limited to the artistic and social elite – it was a bohemian garment that would only be worn indoors. The percieved eccentricity of a Western woman, in a society used to corsets, wearing this loose, ‘exotic’ garment resulted in turning the Kimono into the symbol of the risqué. 

Kimono evolved in ways that vividly reflected the changes in Japanese society. In the earlier parts of the 20th century, during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods (1912 up to WWII),women were inspired to wear even bolder and more striking designs encouraged by the art movements sweeping Europe, mainly Art Nouveau and Art Deco, but also Expressionism, Futurism and Cubism. Along with Western dress, which became rapidly dominant due to the cultural changes sweeping across Japan, kimono was becoming cheaper, more innovative and fashionable. 

The Khalili Collections are proud to be major contributors to the recent seminal exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum titled “Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk”. At his opening night speech, Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, stated: “We have borrowed some remarkable objects not only from Japan, but from museums and private collections in the UK, Europe and America. Special thanks are due to Professor Nasser David Khalili – a great friend of the V&A – for his enormous encouragement of the exhibition, and for being so generous in lending pieces from his collection.”