Art into fashion? - exhibition of Japanese textile art at the Los Angeles County Museum from November 12, 1992 to February 7, 1993; California

Art in America, July, 1993 by Amanda Mayer Stinchecum

Last fall, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art opened the most extensive exhibition of Japanese textile art ever held in this country, probably the largest ever held outside of Japan. It focused on kosode, an early form of the garment that is today known as Kimono. "When Art Became Fashion: Kosode in Edo-Period Japan" [Nov. 12, 1992-Feb. 7, 1993] reflected a span of Japanese history when, for the first time, textile designers and makers sought to capture the attention (and purses) of potential patrons with frequent changes in the design and color of garments. Throughout nearly three centuries of prosperity and the waning of military influence and shogunal oppression of the Edo period (1615-1868), kosode clothed the wives and daughters of samurai and merchants, court nobles and courtesans, artisans and laborers, as well as the males of those social classes.

Originally worn as underclothing by the aristocracy and by poor commoners as their main garment, kosode had become the primary garment for both sexes of all social classes by the end of the 15th century. Fluctuations in style and taste were embodied in fabric design rather than in garment form, which varied little except for slight changes in proportion.

"Marketed" from the second half of the 17th century until 1820 by means of woodblock-printed design books (hinagatabon), new kosode designs were eagerly awaited by the burgeoning merchant class in Kyoto, Osaka and Edo. The Edo period (so known because of the shift of political and military power to the city of Edo, present-day Tokyo) saw tremendous urban growth; by the mid-18th century, Kyoto and Osaka each had populations of 400,000, and Edo over a million. The shogun's order that drew powerful and wealthy daimyo (feudal barons) to Edo for regular periods of residence created a new urban market for luxury goods, bringing prosperity to merchants. Other factors included the growth of Osaka as a shipping and marketing center and the increasing production of goods for sale (such as cotton yam and cloth) by rural households.

Merchants ranked lowest on the social scale in the Confucian order favored by the ruling Tokugawa shogunate, above only nonpersons--hinin--like prostitutes and entertainers, and members of groups considered outcaste, such as butchers. Nevertheless, the merchant class acquired not only wealth but de facto influence in matters of taste from art connoisseurship and fashion to patronage of the tea ceremony and the arts associated with it. Luxurious clothing provided a means of utilizing the new wealth in displays of taste, and even of erudition in the adaptation of literary themes in kosode design. At the same time, actors of the kabuki stage, as well as prostitutes and courtesans, became known for creating their own styles and establishing fashion trends in kosode color and decoration that were followed by men and women of higher social status.

The exhibition at LACMA enriched our vision of the period and of Japan's textile arts. The show, divided into two well-balanced parts to minimize the delicate textiles' exposure to light, included kosode, robe fragments and obi sashes dating from the 17th through the 19th centuries, plus woodblock-printed pattern books and genre paintings of figures in the demimonde of the day that focus loving attention on details of clothing. In addition to 131 complete garments there were 15 two-fold screens covered with gold leaf that were decorated in the 1940s with fragments art-fully arranged to appear as if actual garments were hung on lacquered clothing racks for display. These are part of the Nomura Collection of 100 such screens now in the National Museum of Japanese History.

The exhibition presented the garb of the wealthiest of Edo-period society. Early 17th-century kosode of lush figured satin divided into irregular areas of red, black and white were richly decorated with small flowers and grasses embroidered in loose stitches of colored silks. These were further embellished with gold-leaf diaper, much of which has now worn off, giving a mellow gleam to what was originally a glittering surface. By the end of the 1600s heavy gold embroidery was often combined with areas consisting of dense rows of three-dimensional tie-dyed dots (kanoko shibori) or cheaper, stenciled imitations, accented with tightly embroidered forms in brilliant colors of silk floss. For summer, women wore kosode of crisp ramie (made from a fine plant fiber similar to flax) decorated by a newly developed paste-resist dyeing technique and embellished with embroidery of gold and colored silks (for example, Katabira with Chrysanthemums). The richest robes, uchikake, often of heavily embroidered satin, were worn unbelted over softer, obi-belted kosode, their thick padded hems trailing on the ground (Furisode with Mandarin Orange Trees and Interlocking Bamboo Circles).

As the paste-resist technique was further refined in the 18th century, some kosode took on a lighter aspect. Fine silk crepe showed off the delicately applied dyes and thin white lines of Yuzen dyeing, with embroidery used as an accent or not at all.[1] As in all Japanese arts, seasonal associations determined choices of particular plants, objects or scenes. Gossamer white ramie robes covered with landscapes etched in shades of indigo became the formal summer attire of women at the shogun's court. Autumnal motifs--chrysanthemums, bush clover, fall grasses--often appeared on summer garments to create a feeling (or a memory) of coolness during the hot, humid months.