London museum shows evolution and global impact of kimono

LONDON – A serious exhibition on kimono is being staged in London to point out the garment’s distinctive and evolving contribution to the worldwide trend trade.

“Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk,” which opens on the Victoria and Albert Museum on Saturday, presents the kimono as extra than simply conventional formalwear, as it’s typically perceived within the West.

Talking on Wednesday at a press preview of the upcoming exhibition, Tristram Hunt, the director of the museum, described the kimono as “dynamic” and mentioned it has had “an infinite affect on worldwide clothes types for the final 400 years.”

Anna Jackson, the exhibition curator, described the kimono as “distinctive in its aesthetic significance and cultural affect, giving it an enchanting place inside the story of trend.”

She added the exhibition is especially related as a result of there’s a “renaissance” of curiosity within the garment amongst Japanese.

The exhibition options over 300 works together with kimono specifically made for the present. It additionally consists of gadgets on mortgage from different museums and personal collections.

The exhibition takes guests on a journey beginning within the mid-17th century when kimono began to develop into fashionable in Japan, with a wide range of priceless gadgets on show for the primary time in Britain.

It then exhibits how the Dutch launched the kimono to Europe and the way the garment was tailored to overseas tastes, together with as a nightgown or dressing robe. The Dutch introduced new materials to Japan and these have been included into kimono designs.

When Japan opened as much as the remainder of the world within the 19th century after a interval of isolation spanning greater than 200 years, many kimono have been exported to Europe, the place there was a fascination with all the things Japanese. Objects from this period are additionally on show.

The final part of the exhibition exhibits how the kimono has continued to evolve and be reinvented within the 20th century and as much as the current day. On show are works by famend designers similar to John Galliano and Yohji Yamamoto.

Guests are additionally handled to shows of kimono worn by pop stars similar to Freddie Mercury and Madonna, in addition to kimono used within the “Star Wars” films.

The exhibition runs by means of June 21.