Mizuhiki – Adorning Life
Mizuhiki is an ancient Japanese art of knot-tying. This intricate craft has evolved over the centuries and is now cherished in modern Japan as both a holiday gift and a decorative element.
Jotaro Saito’s Street Fashion
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The challenge was to take the Japanese Kimono out of traditional rules and create a unique fashion line. Japanese designer Jotaro Saito did just that. Having begun his career designing both western clothing and kimono, at the age of 27, Saito made the decision to concentrate solely on the latter. The experience gained through designing western styles greatly influenced the direction of his kimono. Taking inspiration from the “street”, Saito set about creating contemporary designs that resonate with a modern fashion-conscious customer.
Saito was born into an artistic family in Kyoto, the members of which had established the foundation for modern dye artists. His late grandfather was one such artist, Saizaburo Saito, and his father is Sansai Saito, a modern kimono designer. Since his debut at the age of 27, as one of kimono's youngest designers, Jotaro pursued "kimono as fashion matched with modern space".
For foreign visitors, the common perception of Japanese kimono experience seems to be kimono rentals. More adventurous visitors might buy a yukata, the lighter summer kimono, but it often stops there. Japanese themselves often have kimonos passed down in their family, but they might have little chance to wear one. In this context, Saito is breaking conventions to bring back the kimono as fashion for today’s world. Often featured in the mass media, (TV and magazines), Saito is energetically involved in kimono design.
Saito also demonstrates his talents in fields, such as interior design, proposing “a lifestyle with which to enjoy Japaneseness”. His collections, which are regularly shown at Tokyo Fashion Week, are still made using the traditional and extremely time-consuming method of hand-drawn yuzen dyeing. The resulting ensembles blend unique, multi-layered designs with an identifiably Japanese garment.
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