How old is my kimono?

How Old Is My Kimono? Redefining Luxury Through 100 Years of Fashion, Textile, and Taste

London Textile week 2025

This talk traces the shifting meaning of luxury in kimono throughout the 20th century, revealing how textile technology, economic change, and evolving social values shaped both the garments and their cultural significance. While the kimono silhouette appears timeless, it is in the textile—and the way it is worn—that dramatic changes can be read. Drawing on 100 years of kimono fashion magazines, especially Utsukushii Kimono, and the lived experiences of Japanese women through their tansu (kimono chests), I explore the evolving ideas of sophistication and taste.

From wedding trousseaux in postwar Japan to inherited garments now resurfacing in the secondhand market, kimono carry layers of personal and societal history. This presentation will show how to decode these garments using visual and tactile clues to understand their era, intended use, and symbolic value. As copyright restrictions limit access to archival images, examining textiles becomes an essential and accessible method for dating kimono and understanding fashion beyond Western paradigms. Ultimately, this talk offers insight into changing concepts of taste, sustainability, and craftsmanship that remain deeply relevant in contemporary fashion discourse.

20th Century Fashions in Kimono

Caroline Sato is a fashion theorist specialising in non-western forms of fashion. She presented, along with magazine illustrations, around 40 kimonos representative of the fashions in kimono over the century.  By examining factors like fabric quality, design motifs, and historical references, one can gain a deeper understanding of the fashion trends that shaped the 20th century kimono.

Between 1900 and 2000 Kimono transformed dynamically; stylistically, socially and economically. Fashion is the word used to describe the same transformation in western clothing, but kimono and fashion were not concepts connected within Japan. The garments were so much more than clothing. 

Kimono were prepared for a daughter to go into her married life equipt for different social occasions. Up until the 1970’s, kimono were assets and the investment  in them has left us with superbly crafted textiles that have been well preserved and barely worn due to the growing economy and radical changes in lifestyle. Sentimental kimono were also kept in drawers from the dispersal of kimono after a funeral. Because of this, antiques are also appearing in the second hand market as the generation that valued kimono become frail. It is prime time to collect. 

Facing mountains of silk kimono, how can we know which ones are special or even how old they are? The stylistic changes in kimono do not always parallel the global fashion trends, but there are trends that have shaped both the type of kimono, type of textile and style it was worn. The jargon is worth learning for those who want to delve deeper. For a simple glance though, there are some indicators of quality and age that are helpful to know.

How to see quality at a glance?

Crossing seams:  If a design crossed a seam, it was more expensive to make. Designs that cross the side seams or collar indicate a higher level of craftsmanship that raises the rank of the kimono. 

Precision: Tiny hand work = higher cost. This is easy to see in the size and precision of shibori binding, the size and clarity of the turtle motif in double ikat and Edo komon stencilling.

Branding marks: stamped on Edo komon and Kaga yuzen kimono to indicate the artist or woven into Obi hems indicating gold, platinum and/or lacquer threads. For those interested in rarity, after 1955, there is the accredited work from the intangible cultural treasures for various techniques. Guarantees can also come stamped on a segment of cloth from the end of the roll which you will find with the kimono at reputable dealers. As these marks indicate one or maybe 2 craftspeople, it does not encompass the kinds of textiles produced by multiple people, eg Kyoto yuzen.

How to see Era? 

Larger Family Crests on women’s formal kimono indicate they were made until around 1910. Painting on the hems was also distinct, looking more like a natural drawing rather than a dyeing technique, often with fine black ink highlights. Bright red linings indicate pre 1950’s as does the feel of  soft ‘buttery’ silks. 2 types of weaves that disappeared early in the century are the very fat ‘oni’ chirimen and the very fine or wide summer weight ryo. Typically it is formal kimono that survive from the first half of the century.

The impact of the pacific war resulted in a rush to practical fibres of wool and cotton from the 1950’s. With the growing economy, by the 1960’s, designs on pale silk became desirable from both the engagement photos of Michiko Shoda to the Crown Prince (creating the Michi boom), and the 1964 Olympics on colour TV. Medals were presented by women in Furisode that had been commissioned from department stores across the country. With youth at the centre of attention, bright and colourful patterns abounded. Shibori, once distinctly luxurious, became common as did black haori for attending semi formal ceremonies like graduations. By the 1970’s  patterns and textiles moved towards being distinctly Japanese and kimono production focused on luxury or regional specialties which by the 1980’s was predominately silk. Obi became lighter in weight. With the excesses of the bubble economy, techniques became even more refined with decadence worn subtly, e.g. precious metals woven into obis and accessories, or rare fibres like domestically produced bast fibre, or work from the hand of a famous artist. The economic crash saw Yukata (a cotton kimono)  and vintage kimono becoming favoured while the domestic kimono industry was greatly reduced.

Kimono lives on with synthetics popular for the ease of care. What has been truly spectacular in 20th century kimono is the access and demand for quality silk kimono from the 1960s - 1980s by ordinary Japanese citizens. The legacy we are left with is a textile paradise. Also admirable was the general respect and value for textile craftsmanship, something that seems to have diminished in our disposable and convenient lives. To really see the fashions in kimono though, it is helpful to know what kinds of textiles and techniques were appreciated throughout the different eras in Japan as they don’t always parallel the corresponding western styles. In this way we can get away from the simplistic appreciation of colourful relatable graphics and step into the world of sophisticated techniques and expressions of emotion and poetry.

After the talk, Yuka Kishi and her students from Wasou Kimono presented the semi formal kimono they wore to the talk. Gifts from their mothers, these kimono were treasured and skillfully put on. They provided an excellent example of the kind of kimono consumed from the 1980’s onwards and especially how it was worn. Ms Kishi, who has been teaching kimono etiquette in Bangkok for decades, then deftly demonstrated dressing Ake in a male kimono in front of the Thai PBS channel camera crew. The audience were invited to touch the textiles on display.

Shibori Bandhani

A presentation for AFWJ, the Association of Foreign Wives of Japanese, Japan

Shibori is the Japanese name for various methods of applying pressure to cloth to create resist dye patterns and Bandhani as a tie-dye technique prominent in Northwest India, also noting its southern variant, Sungudi, and another form, Leheria.

The talk acknowledged the widespread presence of tie-dye globally, citing examples from Yunnan and Nigeria, and credited Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada for popularizing Shibori worldwide. Sato then delved into how consumer demand affected traditional crafts and discussed the contemporary dialogue surrounding sustainable practices and the challenges of reviving lost techniques, such as those faced by Kashmir loom weavers.

Finally, the presentation shifted to the economic realities of craft, posing the question of whether consumers would pay a living wage for artisan work, thereby initiating a discussion on exploitation versus responsible consumption. Sato concluded by noting Japanese examples of preserving traditions like Tsumugi, and reflected on how the modern accessibility of textiles and diverse fashion made individual expression easier than ever before.

Shibori in Kimono

A Japanese Aesthetic. Talk and Exhibition by Caroline Sato. Press report