JAPAN Forward
In 2024, I predicted that there would be a lot of attention paid to kimono around the world because of the number of kimono exhibitions that were happening. This is going to continue into 2025.
Although Victoria and Albert’s four-year run of “Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk” will finally close its doors at Dundee in January, it has been an amazingly successful exhibition — and it won’t be the last.
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford started showing kabuki costumes in December and this exhibition will continue, with alternating outfits, through most of 2025. In the United States, the Museum of Fine Arts at St Petersburg will open “Kimono: The Triumph of Japanese Dress” on March 8.
But interest in the kimono is not confined to outside Japan. There will soon be an announcement about a major exhibition of important historical dress in Tokyo, too.
An unprecedented number of tourists arrived in Japan in 2024. With the weak yen, it is likely that at least as many will arrive in 2025. One of the popular activities for visitors is to dress in a rented kimono and go sightseeing in it. The rental businesses are likely to do good business this year too.
An interesting fact is that Japanese tourists also enjoy this activity. Renting a kimono means that someone will dress you, and so it takes out the stress of both carrying a kimono and being able to dress oneself well. The trend for having graduations in Japanese dress continues. Increasingly not only universities, but high schools are also doing this too.
Before writing this article I went and investigated some of the more fashionable spots in Tokyo: Ginza, Shimokitazawa, and Harajuku, looking at what young people are interested in wearing. Vintage casual wear is all the rage and there seem to be more shops than ever devoted to used clothing.
I was very surprised by the number of these that cater to men rather than women. Men are becoming much more fashion-conscious. One of the attractions of vintage wear is that each item is unique. This makes it unlikely to find someone else wearing the same piece of clothing.
This is also true of kimono. Vintage kimono continue to be very popular partly because of their uniqueness and partly because of their interesting and colorful designs that are unlikely to be found on new garments. Vintage clothing is also often cheaper and is considered by many to be more ethical than buying new.
The Lolita lacy dresses with flowered prints inspired by Victoriana in Harajuku could perhaps be a parallel universe to the floral antique kimono from the Taisho period that continue to be so popular.
Lace kimono have certainly increased in popularity over the last few years. The interesting thing about Harajuku as a district is the mix of high-end brands, new, small brands, and vintage. On the edgy side are the gothic-inspired black items with holes, trailing hems, impossibly thick-soled shoes, and metal accessories.
There is a small, but growing section of the kimono world that also enjoys incorporating this kind of dark look into kimono. Leather belts or corsets, instead of obi, straps, and other kinds of accessories with dark kimono and make-up. Drawing parallels between the worlds of fashion and kimono is informative when thinking about direction.
Fashion sociologist Christopher Breward writes about the importance of fashion in new urban spaces. The mercantile class bought the short-sleeved kosode and flaunted them in Edo in the 17th century and the flaneurs of Paris did the same in the 19th.
Fashion also tends to flow from young women to older women, and from younger women to younger men, with older men being the last group to leave their conventional clothing. It also spreads from large, urban centers and gradually moves out towards outlying spaces.
In 2024, I was invited to speak in Fukuoka, and also to attend a kimono party and do a talk-show in Toyama. In both cases, tickets were sold out. The image of regional centers being very traditional and not interested in new kimono is perhaps becoming outdated. I predict that I will be invited to more events in different parts of Japan in 2025.
Another driver of this interest in kimono in diverse regions could be the fact that these places are becoming more conscious about their own area culture and products. These are increasingly been seen as valuable resources. A vast number of kimono are not produced in urban centers but in outlying areas and a re-evaluation of these textiles is underway.
As the future of fashion looks increasingly about conformity, computer-based designs, and smart textiles, there is a backlash in which individuality, craftsmanship, and tailor-made are being valued.
The kimono made by hand, made to order, and made on old looms are a part of that culture of slow and quality fashion. Expo 2025 in Osaka will give further exposure to kimono and Japanese crafts.
2025 will be an important year for kimono. Jotaro Saito will continue to represent the high-end fashionable side of kimono, bringing pattern and high style to both men and women. The Tokyo brand Rumi Rock will celebrate its 20th year and Robe Japonica its 10th.
I predict that there will be more collaborations between kimono makers and brands and an increase in activity in outlying areas. It is sure to bring some surprises for both makers and wearers and all who love Japanese clothing.
Author: Sheila Cliffe
Read other columns on kimono by the author.
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