Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Kickstarter: Bring Real Kimono to New York Fashion Week


New York and Florida-based kimono fashion stylist, Hiromi Asai, has teamed up with Kimono Artisan Kyoto, an association of Japanese textile artisans, to bring kimono to New York Fashion Week in 2016. They launched a Kickstarter campaign in June and are a little more than halfway to their $50,000 goal with 17 days to go. They will not receive any money unless they reach their goal. They have incredibly beautiful rewards for those who can afford it ($50 - $10,000).

Kimono is a dying art that won't survive if kimono artisans are not able to generate more interest outside of Japan. You can see from the chart on their Kickstarter page just how dramatically the industry has shrunk in the past 30 years. Japan-based retailer Uniqlo recently launched a Women's Yukata Collection ($69.90) as well as one for girls ($59.90) in their US stores which might help pique interest in kimono but these are mass-produced garments and won't help the skilled artisans who produce high-quality kimono.

Further reading

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