Geisha, who had been some of the first to adapt Western clothing, now saw that the future lay in wearing fabulous kimono, and rebranding themselves as the embodiment of “old Japan.” The repeal of the sumptuary laws combined with new dying techniques and materials made innovative, exciting kimonos available to a larger clientele than ever before. The new era known as Meiji (1868-1912) meaning ‘enlightened rule,’ would concentrate on building a modern, industrialised and militarily powerful state. In the turmoil that followed, the new Emperor Mutsuhito brought the rule of the military elite to an end and swept the old feudal system away. The kimono’s slow shift towards the symbolic began after Japan was forced to open its borders to foreign trade. A fact which will undoubtedly surprise those more familiar with the flamboyant styles they later adopted. Forbidden from competing with the courtesans, they had honed the art of restrained elegance. When the sumptuary laws were more rigidly upheld in the late 18th and early 19th Century, the women who epitomised this chic, understated style known as iki were the geisha. “Suddenly anyone with taste turned to small scale details, so you’d have a plain kimono with a flashy lining or something in grey or brown which, when you looked closely, was intricately patterned,” says Jackson. Now this was increasingly emphasised via appearance.Īlthough not strictly enforced and often ignored, these rules proved the catalyst for subversive developments in kimono fashion which enabled the wearer to subtly convey their wealth and discernment. In the past, the samurai, Japan’s ruling military class, had gained their status and wealth from success on the battlefield. After centuries of civil war and unrest this was an era of unprecedented political stability, economic growth and urban expansion. The kimono first gained sartorial significance during the Edo period (1630 – 1868). Kimono is once again being seen on the streets of Japan, proving that far from being a static icon it is a dynamic, fashionable, garment whose use and significance has ebbed and flowed with the tides of history. However, since the 1990s there has been a growing interest in kimono amongst a younger generation of Japanese with numerous magazines, blogs and Facebook groups fuelling this revival. “As its actual wearing decreases, so its symbolic status expands and it comes to stand for Japan in a globalised world,” says Anna Jackson, curator of Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Only after the enforced opening of Japan’s borders by the United States in the late 19th Century did the kimono begin to take on a more symbolic role, a shift that reached its apogee in the aftermath of the Pacific War (1941-45) when, defeated and demoralised, the Japanese largely abandoned the kimono in favour of Western fashions. Given the kimono’s iconic status it is easy to forget that for the greatest part of their history they have also been a fashion staple, worn on a daily basis by the majority of the population. To western eyes they are the ultimate symbol of Japan, often infused with an exotic fascination derived from misconceived ideas about the geisha. If meticulously handcrafted by the finest makers, their value can run to thousands of pounds, and they are reverently handed down from generation to generation. It is worn at key moments in a person’s life as well as being donned for traditional occasions such as the tea ceremony. From a first visit to the shrine to coming of age and marriage ceremonies, the kimono plays an integral role in Japanese society.
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