From February 6 to May 2, 2021, the Worcester Art Museum will present The Kimono in Print: 300 Years of Japanese Design, the first show devoted to examining the kimono as a major source of inspiration and experimentation in Japanese print culture, from the Edo period (1603–1868) to the Meiji period.
Over the course of three hundred years, Japanese print artists such as Nishikawa Sukenobu, Okumura Masanobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, and Hashiguchi Goyō documented ever-evolving trends in fashion, popularized certain styles of dress, and even designed kimono. Modern design books and prints from the early 20th century, inspired by or made for kimono, by such pioneering figures as Kamisaka Sekka, Tsuda Seifū, and the Mavo art collective will demonstrate how the boundaries between print and textile fashion and design became more fluid.
The exhibition will feature a one-of-a-kind, contemporary wedding kimono specially commissioned by the Worcester Art Museum from Chiso, the prestigious 466-year-old Kyoto-based garment maker. Presenting ten different themes inspired by Chiso's kimono, the virtual exhibition, Kimono Couture: The Beauty of Chiso, on the museum's website, unveils a theme a week over the ten weeks leading up to the opening of The Kimono in Print.