Going on view Friday, June 28, 2019, “Kimono: Refashioning Contemporary Style” at the Cincinnati Art Museum, celebrates the enduring influence of the kimono on fashion by displaying Japanese kimono side by side with western fashionable garments from the 1870s to today along with kimono, Japanese prints, paintings and textiles.
Goers can see more than 50 ensembles by Japanese, European and American designers, including Coco Chanel, Christian Louboutin, John Galliano, Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Rei Kawakubo, Iris van Herpen and Issey Miyake.
Kimono translated means “thing to wear” has impacted international fashion since Japan opened its ports to the world in the mid-1850s. The form and silhouette of kimono, its two-dimensional structure and motifs used as surface embellishment, have all been refashioned into a wide array of garments. Kimono revealed new possibilities in clothing design and helped lay the foundation for contemporary fashion design.
Cynthia Amnéus, Cincinnati Art Museum’s Chief Curator and Curator of Fashion Arts and Textiles expressed, “We are excited to partner with Kyoto Costume Institute (KCI) and Asian Art Museum to tell the story of the influence of kimono on contemporary fashions. KCI is renowned for their collection of Western dress and more than 15 exceptional examples of traditional and contemporary fashion have been added to the exhibition from our own permanent collection. We have also supplemented the show with paintings, works on paper and examples of Rookwood pottery that help tell this story. From the 1870s to today, the kimono has continued to be a touchstone for fashion couturiers on a global scale.”
Organized by the Kyoto Costume Institute in Japan and the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, with the generous support of Huntington Bank and Toyota of Cincinnati, CAM is the third of three venues in the United States to present this exhibition. The others were the Newark Museum in New Jersey and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
For more information on this show, including other venues, see: www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org.