Kasuri Kimono

Japanese commoners were not allowed to wear silk until the 1860’s and instead were relegated to wearing coarse cloth woven of hemp or other plant fibers. Once they were allowed to wear silk, the demand for patterned silk skyrocketed. The kasuri (ikat) technique was very costly and was replaced by the meisen techinque, which was printed instead of dyed, but not in this case. This kimono is created using a double ikat technique, in which the warp and weft were both tie dyed before being woven together.

This kimono is colorful and has a geometric, linear design. Thick vertical stripes alternate between an off white and orange, with more intricate shapes and stripes in the lighter color. Thin black lines cross the garment horizontally.