The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
KIMONO SEE THE STYLE
V&A Dundee is hosting an exhibition about the traditional Japanese garment, from its origins to influences on modern style, using pieces from Freddie Mercury, Bjork and Mick Jagger, writes Michael Alexander
When rock band Queen toured Japan in 1975, it inspired Freddie Mercury to start collecting Japanese art and antiquities. The flamboyant Queen frontman sometimes wore boldly patterned kimonos on stage in the mid-1970s, “challenging the norms of gender and sexuality”.
Now visitors to a major new exhibition at V&A Dundee can discover how that gender fluidity extended to his private life.
A personal kimono Mercury wore at home features prominently in Kimono: Kyoto To Catwalk, which opens at V&A Dundee next Saturday.
The garment collection.
V&A Dundee exhibition curator Kirsty Hassard said the garment provides audiences with a glimpse into the personal life of the late showman.
However, it’s also an example of how the kimono has moved from traditional Japanese garment to the heart of contemporary popular culture.
“This delicately patterned kimono was owned and worn by the late Queen frontman at home,” she said.
“In contrast to his flamboyant on-stage style, for which he sometimes wore a boldly patterned kimono, this garment is quite subdued.
“However, it is overtly feminine, indicating that even privately Freddie Mercury used kimonos to challenge gender and sexuality.
“He probably acquired the garment in Japan during one of Queen’s many tours.”
Kimono: Kyoto To Catwalk explores the fascinating story of the style, appeal and influence of the garment.
Renowned for its elegance and cultural significance, it embodies a blend of artistry, history and symbolism.
The exhibition features rare 17th and 18th-Century kimonos displayed alongside modern designs from Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Alexander McQueen.
Its recent reinvention on the streets of Japan is also explored through work by a new wave of contemporary designers and stylists.
The beauty and significance of the kimono, meaning simply “the thing to wear”, is celebrated with a collection of around 300 examples, accessories, paintings, prints, has been in
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With a background in history, textiles and fashion, she started in London in 2015 before working with V&A Dundee before its 2018 opening.
She was one of the curators on the Tartan exhibition last year.
“What the exhibition really does is it tells the history of the kimono,” she said.
“We’ve got some amazing pieces from 1680 – the earliest piece in the exhibition.
“That’s the oldest kimono surviving in a European collection. It was acquired for this exhibition by the V&A.
“But we’ve got contemporary work from Alexander McQueen and John Galliano as well as known designers such as Miyake.
“It may be that visitors to the exhibition won’t have heard of them, but they are really popular and significant within Japan.
“They are constantly looking at what the kimono can be and how it’s constantly relevant within the 21st Century.”
Kirsty added: “A lot of the clothes we wear today are indirectly inspired by kimono and the way that it changed the silhouettes designers were crafting – particularly in the early 20th Century,” said Kirsty.
“So you are looking at designers like Fortuny and really interesting avant-garde designers that were taking their inspiration from kimono.
“And then in the final section we’ve got a couple of objects that have been added for the V&A Dundee iteration of the show, so it’s a new kind of finale to the exhibition.
“We’ve got two objects that belonged to L’Wren Scott, the model and fashion designer.
“I think in her 2012 collection she was inspired by kimono.
“We’ve got that piece that she designed in 2012 and then we’ve got the kimono she was inspired by. They were both donated to the V&A by her partner Mick Jagger.”
Wider cultural connections between Scotland and Japan are mentioned.
For example, a robe loaned by the National Trust for Scotland and normally kept at Newhailes House outside Edinburgh, was made in the 17th Century when Japan was a “closed country”.
“Nobody was really allowed to trade with Japan,” said Kirsty. “It was only the Dutch East India Company who were able to bring objects or anything really.
“It’s a robe rather than a kimono – it was manufactured in Japan and made its way to just outside Edinburgh to the Dalrymple family where it was worn by Sir James Dalrymple.
“This was the first idea of connections between Scotland and Japan.
“Also, if you look at the context around a lot of these objects and particularly from the point that Japan opened up to the western world in the mid-19th Century onwards, that’s certainly when you start to see a lot more of these Japanese-Scottish connections flourishing.
“And obviously the fact that in V&A Dundee we have the Mackintosh tearoom.
“Although Mackintosh never visited Japan, he was inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and architecture.
“I think as a visitor when you are coming to the museum, you are understanding the context of the designers who are represented within the museum itself.”
Kimono: Kyoto To Catwalk runs from Saturday May 4 until January 5 2025 at V&A Dundee. Tickets £7 to £15. £2 discount when booking online. Members and 18s and under go free. vam.ac.uk/dundee/whatson/exhibitions/kimono