Posts Tagged ‘Japan’
Marimekko Memory Cards
Familiar with my passion for textile prints, my friend Inma Martinez kindly loaned me a Marimekko memory card deck on which are printed some of their most memorable prints. The cards, all featuring vivid and strong prints, start in the 1950s and run through to 2004. Each card includes the designer’s name and the year. […]
Filed under: Textile, Textile Design | Leave a Comment
Tags: Japan, marimekko, textile prints
Straw Hats on Tokyo Streets
While walking near Harajuku Station in Tokyo recently, I noticed women dressed in traditional kimono with what seemed to be a straw fan in their hand – only to realize that the fan turns into a hat. Genius. As more and more women turned up in identical outfits, I realized they were part of a […]
Filed under: Tokyo | 2 Comments
Tags: Costume, Hats, Japan, Tokyo, Tradition
From the streets of Tokyo, you can see Japanese have a great eye for mixing and matching improbable old and new items of clothing. Take, for example, the shop assistant above, whom I photographed at the vintage shop Haight & Ashbury. Oyo mixes an ornate 1950s hat, Charleston pearls and a modern marinière-style t-shirt. The […]
Filed under: Fashion, Japan, Tokyo, Vintage | Leave a Comment
Tags: "Japan Vintage", "Tokyo Vintage", Japan, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo
For all its simple style, the kimono has lost status in Japan as daily apparel. Japanese women talk about kimonos with a sense of ritual and preciousness. How can something almost sacred return to daily life? I met a young Tokyo mother at the aquarium in Shinagawa taking her two daughters and a friend. In […]
Filed under: Craft, Japan, Sewing, Textile | 5 Comments
Tags: children, Japan, kimono, Liberty, Tokyo
I recommend anyone serious about patterns to explore the richness of Chiyogami paper (江戸千代紙). Chiyogami, literally “thousand generation paper”, is a woodblock-printed paper that Japanese use to write special letters, poems, wrap gifts, cover books and even make paper dolls or small boxes. Starting in Kyoto’s imperial court, the popularity of Chiyogami spread to Tokyo […]
Filed under: Colors, Design, Japan | Leave a Comment
Tags: chiyogami, Edo, Isetatsu, Ito-ya, Japan, paper, textiles
