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gurdymonkeyCherish the Old, Know the New:
Onko Chishin: Kimono no Saisei-A Kimono Renaissance, Thursday, 4/19/07.Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
Artist and designer Nobuaki Tomita is one of Japan’s most influential kimono producers and stylists. His work is dedicated to recreating traditional Japanese costume for period dramas and developing new fashions using traditional textiles to support the work of endangered artisans. In this presentation, Tomita will display several ensembles authentically representing different periods of Japanese fashion, from the days of Prince Genji more than 1,000 years ago, to the high style of Geisha, to the dress of contemporary women, as represented by characters in Japanese NHK television serial morning “dramas.” In Japanese with English translation.
http://asianart.org/bamboo.htm#events
Photos here
Onko Chishin: Kimono no Saisei-A Kimono Renaissance, Thursday, 4/19/07.Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
Artist and designer Nobuaki Tomita is one of Japan’s most influential kimono producers and stylists. His work is dedicated to recreating traditional Japanese costume for period dramas and developing new fashions using traditional textiles to support the work of endangered artisans. In this presentation, Tomita will display several ensembles authentically representing different periods of Japanese fashion, from the days of Prince Genji more than 1,000 years ago, to the high style of Geisha, to the dress of contemporary women, as represented by characters in Japanese NHK television serial morning “dramas.” In Japanese with English translation.
http://asianart.org/bamboo.htm#events
Photos here
What was actually presented were Tomita-san's designs of Edo, Meiji, Taisho and Showa period character costumes for film and television, plus modern fashion designs. The closest they got to "the days of Prince Genji" were several uwagi worn by high ranking samurai women in the shogun's palace. The fabric was clearly influenced by Heian styles, itsutsuginu were represented by false layers at sleeve edge, collar and hem and the whole was worn over trad kimono and obi, which means that the uwagi was (a) dragged backward off the neck to drape over the kimono beneath and (b) there was the inevitable haori-obi-lump effect.
That having been said, there were some gorgeous textiles in evidence. Tomita-san began the presentation by having his three samurai retainers help roll out a bolt of silk so the audience would have an idea just how much fabric went into a kimono. The bolt was re-rolled and handed off to a lady who proceeded, during the course of the evening to assemble it into a nagajuban. Granted, it wasn't hemmed and she didn't have to deal with unfinished seams like some of us, but she was FAST!
As you can see by the constant state of blur, Tomita-san is a cheerful, energetic man who doesn't hold still much. He talked about his work through translater Melissa Rinne and answered what were pretty basic questions on kimono.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/wodeford/album/576460762398811671
The first two shots are of costumes from a drama about the marriage of Lady Hiro Saga, a member of the Japanese Imperial Family, to the brother of the last Emperor of China. For more on this 1930's alliance, go here:
http://www.city.chiba.jp/ward/e-inage/history/aisinkakurahuketsu.html
The Heian inspired uwagi mentioned above can also be seen on display, and then modeled at the very end of the album. If you look closely at the sleeves and hems, you can see how flat the false layers are. Still pretty though....
Photos 61 - 64 are of brocades used for Noh costumes, plus two costumes themselves. #65 was the silk bolt that was sailed down the aisle by Tomita-san's three "samurai" assistants and sewn into a nagajuban. It has animals from the Choju Jiga, one of my favorite emaki on it. http://toban-meiga.up.seesaa.net/arts/02-ChojuGiga_n.jpg
#112 is the man who modeled an Edo period high ranking samurai costume worn by a villain in a TV series. I approached him at the end of the program, bowed, held out my camera and said "Dozo?" He BEAMED, then brandished his wakizashi at me." So of course I bowed and thanked him in Japanese afterward.
I was about to do the same to one of the samurai assistants, when he said, "Hang on, let me get my mom and brother." It turns out Mom was the speed sewer. Only moments earlier, I had walked over to her work table and given her a standing ovation. I'm fast, but not that fast.
I unfortunately did not get any shots of the exquisite obi woven to depict the mountain range surrounding Himi City. Tomita's modern fashion designs are as amazing as his period costumes.
That having been said, there were some gorgeous textiles in evidence. Tomita-san began the presentation by having his three samurai retainers help roll out a bolt of silk so the audience would have an idea just how much fabric went into a kimono. The bolt was re-rolled and handed off to a lady who proceeded, during the course of the evening to assemble it into a nagajuban. Granted, it wasn't hemmed and she didn't have to deal with unfinished seams like some of us, but she was FAST!
As you can see by the constant state of blur, Tomita-san is a cheerful, energetic man who doesn't hold still much. He talked about his work through translater Melissa Rinne and answered what were pretty basic questions on kimono.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/wodeford/album/576460762398811671
The first two shots are of costumes from a drama about the marriage of Lady Hiro Saga, a member of the Japanese Imperial Family, to the brother of the last Emperor of China. For more on this 1930's alliance, go here:
http://www.city.chiba.jp/ward/e-inage/history/aisinkakurahuketsu.html
The Heian inspired uwagi mentioned above can also be seen on display, and then modeled at the very end of the album. If you look closely at the sleeves and hems, you can see how flat the false layers are. Still pretty though....
Photos 61 - 64 are of brocades used for Noh costumes, plus two costumes themselves. #65 was the silk bolt that was sailed down the aisle by Tomita-san's three "samurai" assistants and sewn into a nagajuban. It has animals from the Choju Jiga, one of my favorite emaki on it. http://toban-meiga.up.seesaa.net/arts/02-ChojuGiga_n.jpg
#112 is the man who modeled an Edo period high ranking samurai costume worn by a villain in a TV series. I approached him at the end of the program, bowed, held out my camera and said "Dozo?" He BEAMED, then brandished his wakizashi at me." So of course I bowed and thanked him in Japanese afterward.
I was about to do the same to one of the samurai assistants, when he said, "Hang on, let me get my mom and brother." It turns out Mom was the speed sewer. Only moments earlier, I had walked over to her work table and given her a standing ovation. I'm fast, but not that fast.
I unfortunately did not get any shots of the exquisite obi woven to depict the mountain range surrounding Himi City. Tomita's modern fashion designs are as amazing as his period costumes.
