Since coming to Japan 16 years ago,
Maia Maniglier has developed a keen interest
in Japanese culture and especially kimono
fashion. She produced the successful exhibition "L'Estampe
numerique et le Yukata" in 2003, showing
a new type of summer kimonos (yukata).
Her first book in Japanese "A Parisian
and kimonos" was published in May 2005
and in July 2005 she opened a 3 days ephemeral
kimono shop in Kyoto.
The choice of location for the exhibition
came from a common desire to be in Kyoto
for the great Gion Festival in order to enjoy
its famous feast. An old merchant house was
choosen to exhibit the works and entertain
the guests.
"Kimono go West" was a fancy kimono
shop, ephemeral like the Festival, born from
the imagination of a Parisian and her desire
to share a special japanese feast.
The event allowed visitors to experience
a kimono shop, enjoy the exhibit as visiting
a friend's merchant house. The theme enlarged
from cotton to silk, creating an enchanting
world of modern fashion for kimono, 250 square
meters of distinction, delicacy...and amusement.
Maia Maniglier aimed to renovate kimono
underwear; in collaboration with her kimono
concierge Kanji Nakashima they shared the
theme "hidden items" : they asked
artists Tatsuya OKA and Hiroshi GOTO to create
works for Juban undergarnments and Ha-ura
( kimono jacket lining ) - items you rarely
see but which reveals the taste and refinement
of a highly cultured and educated society.
This search for refinement in what is hidden,
forgotten lately by the Japanese, revives
this summer with a Parisian woman who has
a passion for kimonos. In collaboration
she also proposed a prototype at Kyoto.
Maia Maniglier had selected fashionable
artists, artisans, brands and designers to
give a new impulse to kimono fashion. All
visitors were awed to discover this new kimono
fashion, traditional and modern, mixing orient
and occident. ..
(A student came by night bus to see the event,
and went back again the same evening by night
bus.) |
