Exhibition Opening on Saturday, 29 February 2020

Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk

  • Opening on Saturday, 29 February 2020

  • Gallery 39 and the North Court

  • £16 – £18

    Variable ticket pricing applies between 8 – 21 June

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This exhibition will present the kimono as a dynamic and constantly evolving icon of fashion, revealing the sartorial, aesthetic and social significance of the garment from the 1660s to the present day, both in Japan and the rest of the world.

Exhibition Highlights

Outer-kimono for a young woman (uchikake), 1800 – 30, probably Kyoto, Japan. © Image Courtesy of the Joshibi University of Art and Design Art Museum, 2204-36
Fashionable brocade patterns of the Imperial Palace, woodblock print, made by Utagawa Kunisada, 1847-1852, Japan. Museum no. Circ.636 to Circ. 638– 1962. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Hiroko Takahashi modelling her brand HIROCOLEDGE, by Hiroko Takahashi, 2009, Japan. © Image courtesy of Hiroko Takahashi
Belted wrap coat, designed by Duro Olowu, Autumn/Winter 2015, England. © Duro Olowu
Kimono for a young woman (furisode), 1905–20, probably Kyoto, Japan. © Khalili Collection, K106
Anna Elizabeth van Reede, oil painting, by Gerard Hoet, 1678, Netherlands. © Slot Zuylen
Staircase, December, from the series pictures of the months, hanging scroll, by Kobayakawa Kiyoshi, 1935, Tokyo, Japan. © Levenson Collection
Kimono for export, probably Kyoto, Japan, 1905-15. Museum no. FE.46-2018. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Costume for Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Alec Guinness (1914-2000) in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, made by John Mollo, 1977, USA. © LucasFilms Ltd
'Beyond', kimono for a woman, designed by Moriguchi Kunihiko, 2005, Kyoto, Japan. © Image Courtesy of the Khalili Collection, KX224
Mantle, designed by Paul Poiret, about 1913, Paris. Museum no. T.165-1967. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Parading courtesan, woodblock print, Katsukawa Shunsen, 1804-18, Edo (Tokyo), Japan. Museum no. E.12564-1886. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Vanity case in the shape of an inro, Cartier, 1930, France. Photograph by Nils Herrmann, Cartier Collection © Cartier

Events

Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk
With support from
Background image: KIMONO Times, Akira Times, 2017. © Akira Times