By Ben St George. Ben is a freelance menswear writer and has been exploring some unusual brands and shops for us.
I wasn’t aware of Furuki Yo-Kimono, a small kimono specialist tucked away at the back of The Factory creative hub in Dalston (East London) until Simon put it on my radar. But when he suggested investigating it, I was intrigued. There are (perhaps unsurprisingly) few dedicated vintage-kimono retailers in Britain as far as I know - Kimono Kimono in Bristol being a notable exception.
I’ll admit to having been something of a Japanophile growing up. I was a nerd (no surprise there, I’m sure) and the country of katsu, kaiju and Kurosawa captured my imagination in a way that has always stayed with me.
That included the kimono, and while it obviously falls outside the normal coverage of Permanent Style, it is still very much traditional tailoring – and with as rich a history as any of the major Western codes.
Another admission – I have at one point owned a kimono, purchased many years ago during a trip to Tokyo. It never saw wear outside of the house, but I loved it as a dressing gown. Traditional British gowns have often felt a little staid and overcooked on me, but the long, straight lines of the kimono and its ‘wrapability’ sat on my lanky frame in a manner that I found both flattering and comfortable.
An unfortunate cooking oil incident saw that piece prematurely laid to rest – and as the cultural conversation around such things has evolved over the past few years, I did begin to feel a nagging sensation that perhaps kimono were not something for me.
No small amount of ink has been spilled celebrating Japan’s remarkable assumption and evolution of British and American dress – generally considered an unalloyed good – but can a non-Japanese consumer do the reverse? Are kimono something that I could (or should) wear, as a white guy?
“As long as we can see people love them and enjoy wearing them, that’s fine,” says Furuki Yo-Kimono’s founder, Sonoe Sugawara, when I put this to her. “In fact I’d like my shop to be a gateway to kimono fashion for non-Japanese people. We’ve been wearing kimono for thousands of years, but our style has been influenced by non-Japanese people's fashion as well.”
Sonoe trained as a traditional kimono fitter in Japan in her twenties. Following a career in London as a vintage fashion buyer, she started Furuki Yo-Kimono after her husband’s family discovered an enormous horde of antique kimono in their attic.
“There were so, so many – and everything was being packed up for Korea,” says Sonoe. “They didn't know what to do, and tried to get rid of them. So I just said, ‘I’ll take everything!’”
Kimono translates plainly as ‘things to wear’. Whilst some kimono do have a ceremonial function, most are just “general clothes”, as Sonoe puts it – what we might call workwear, loungewear or sleepwear, all sharing the same fundamental shape.
That shape has remained almost unchanged since the eighth century – straight cut, with a rectangular body and square sleeves, fastened with a sash or obi – but the details have always been in flux.
“We’ve had a lot of influence from foreign people, like Chinese, Korean, Indian people, through the Silk Road. In the 16th century, the Portuguese and the English. Rulers and samurai loved foreign culture, so they adapted it into our traditional style, [which became] fashion.”
Sonoe’s menswear customers – the majority are men, mostly American and British – often come looking for statement pieces: something to wear for special occasions and parties, or as a dressing gown at home. But Japanese denim-heads seek her out as well, keen to shop the selection of 19th century boro pieces - indigo-dyed worker’s coats, distressed and hand-patched over decades of wear (above).
She also has a significant following of architects. “LOTS of architects,” laughs Sonoe. “I think because they like structured design and those repeated geometric patterns.”
Whilst some of Sonoe’s rarest pieces sell for up to £2000, the vast majority are surprisingly affordable, ranging between £150 and £250. Sonoe is also extensively knowledgeable about the collection – a treat in and of itself, as so many pieces have unique and fascinating stories to them.
Much of her collection focuses on pieces from the 1920s and 1930s – a vibrant pre-war period when Art Deco mixed with traditional Japanese design. The full-length house kimono from this period are particularly elegant, woven from hefty and lustrous jacquard silk that has a svelte yet substantial feel in the hand, and drapes beautifully.
Haori – shorter ‘jacket-style’ kimono, traditionally worn over top of a full kimono – are some of Sonoe’s best-selling pieces (above). You may have seen them reinterpreted by the likes of Kapital, Universal Works or Maharishi, but the real deal is quite special. Traditional haori often hide resplendent embroidered landscapes or motifs symbolising luck, like tigers or dragons, that only the wearer might see.
Many of Sonoe’s menswear clients like these haori particularly. I’m not my style is bold enough to make one work, but I love the way a more playful dresser like Scott Fraser Simpson (above) can incorporate one into an outfit alongside Western clothing, layering it over a shirt or knitted tee with high-waisted trousers.
For me, Sonoe’s encouragement has made me imagine a world where I would wear a kimono again at home – I find them elegant and eminently wearable, especially some of the more somber, Deco-influenced pieces. Their sense of history and one-of-one, hand-crafted nature also speak to me.
Out of the house I’m not so sure, but however it’s going to be worn, this collection is a treasure trove of kimono. And it's hard to deny that these beautiful pieces deserve to be worn. “They’re still clothes,” as Sonoe says, “and clothes have to be worn with joy”.
Sonoe works primarily by appointment - you can contact her via Instagram or directly at the email address below if you’d like to visit. She also has a limited ecommerce presence, though for remote customers she more often conducts consultations via Facetime and WhatsApp.
FURUKI YO-KIMONO VINTAGE
Pod 15, The FACTORY, 21-31 Shacklewell Lane, London E8 2DA
Kimonos are beautiful pieces of craft, and often worthy of being considered artworks. I own several. Its unfortunate that anyone would be put off buying or wearing such things by the sort of politically correct conversations you refer to. There can never be anything wrong in appreciating the wonderful things produced by other cultures. That’s as silly as someone in London refusing to eat Indian or Chinese food.
Simon wrote “are kimono something that I could (or should) wear, as a white guy? ” I agree with John G.’s comment. It’s simply a matter of freedom of choice and expression. In the West, the woke elites are suppressing our freedoms, especially speech. Diversity, inclusion and equality does not apply to white, middle aged, heterosexual men. My fear would be that wearing a kimono in public would get you arrested by Starmer’s Stasi.
Kent, thanks for the comment but let’s please keep politics or more social points out of the discussion. It’s not what this area is for. Thank you
Thank you, Simon. One of the many things I appreciate about Permanent Style is that it is a safe haven from this kind of commentary. I came here today to read about the fabric of Japanese kimonos, not the fabric of British society. Kimonos are not something I would choose to wear personally, but that is a style choice, and not because I feel my sartorial freedoms are being suppressed. On the contrary, one could argue we have never had as much choice and freedom in how we dress.
No need to bring politics into it, its understandable that people would feel uncomfortable wearing a piece of clothing that is so closely tied to a specific culture which they have no emotional connection with other than being interested in it. it makes you feel like your are wearing a costume rather than an outfit or like you are pretending to be someone your not.
I was recently told by a member of Canada’s Indigenous people that there is a difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. In the former, you don’t understand the history or significance of the item, and you use it for your own gain or profit. In the latter, you learn the history and significance of the item, and are mindful and respectful of that while using or engaging with it. Applied to kimonos, I’d suggest wearing one because you want to look cool, maybe covering it with badges, is perhaps cultural appropriation. Wearing one after appreciating the history and craft, and in a context and way it is worn by the Japanese, would seem to be cultural appreciation.
Nobody except Englishmen (and in a pinch, Frenchmen, seeing as it evolved from the habit de cour) should be allowed to wear suits. The rest of us are just appropriating their culture.
It was my understanding that the Japanese had a cultural aversion to wearing second hand clothing especially traditional items like kimonos. That is why these items were sent overseas for sale. Has the culture changed in this regard?
Good question. I’m not sure on kimono, we can ask Sonoe.
On other clothing though, no I don’t think so at least with the modern generation, given the huge number of second-hand stores you see in Japan today, as well as vintage.
Hello Simon, thank you for introducing me and my shop. I am very honoured. and hello RTK, very nice to meet you here!
In response to your question, some Japanese people still avoid second hand clothes (including vintage kimono) especially elderly people. I am in late 40th and born in mid 1970’s. My friends and I visited vintage shops every weekend in Shibuya and Daikanyama in 1980-90’s Tokyo. I have never seen my parents (born in 1940’s) in vintage clothes but they did not stop us. I think elderly people who were born post-war / prewar time have a cultural aversion to wear second hand clothes because it remind them the time they actually needed to wear second hand clothes to survive, it was not about fashion. Second-hand clothes were for the people who could not afford to buy new ones.
There is a funny episode of my family, when I was a teenager my grandmother patched and added sashiko stitches to mend all the holes of my brother’s rare vintage Levi’s jeans and my grandfather gave us some pocket money to buy new clothes!.I also heard similar episode from my friends too.
Nowadays, I think most Japanese younger generations don’t have prejudices to second hand clothes and they mix nicely with new clothes.
Although vintage kimono are not everyone’s cup of tea in Japan, but there have always been demands. Thanks to social media and internet, vintage kimono shopping is more accessible, population of vintage kimono lovers in Japan are increasing in younger generations. It is spreading to foreign countries, then sometimes we are inspired by kimono fashion of non-Japanese kimono lovers.
I hope I answer your question..
For anyone looking for a new kimono or haori, I’d recommend Y and Sons, who have a pop-up shop in Paris until the end of the year, just round the corner from the Picasso Museum in the Marais.
Recall this Simon look from a while back: https://www.permanentstyle.com/2019/08/holiday-snaps-2019-or-no-shorts-in-the-city.html
Off-the-cuff considerations:
– Your vacation look is styled with a kendogi, so basically sportswear. Still a Japanese jacket but different to these much finer haori jackets.
– By wearing sportswear (kendogi) familiar to any martial arts enthusiast paired with Western digs, could you argue, tongue-in-cheek, that you are pulling off a casual “Ivy” look?.
– I have no problem in principle with the idea of wearing a more elevated haori as a substitute for a chore jacket. The look would be cool. Very cool if done carefully. Is it any more of a problem than wearing a teba when not Spanish?
– The problem with these types of things is versatility and lack of occasion to wear them. When you venture into less familiar territory, you will stand out — like wearing glee club inspired, candy-stripe seersucker. It’s a “look” in PS parlance.
Thanks Eric, interesting points, and well highlighted on my kendogi.
I wouldn’t think it was Ivy unfortunately, as it’s not all sportswear, but I like the suggestion
Refreshing subject. Thanks!