Style icon or posh dressing gown? Kimono fad we’re all waking up to...
ONCE it was something you’d slip on after a bath or wear to mooch about the house on a Sunday morning.
But the kimono-style dressing gown has been elevated beyond all recognition.
It is now more likely to be seen with a pair of Jimmy Choo stiletto heels than a pair of slippers, with a designer price tag to match.
Actress Margot Robbie wore a £6,000 black Gucci version with pink faux fur cuffs to a film premiere. Model Georgia May Jagger looked chic in a £4,000 Gucci version at a gala in New York. Heidi Klum dazzled in a £1,100 Johanna Ortiz number at a charity dinner.
So why all of this star- studded adulation for what is, essentially, a glorified dressing-gown?
The Japanese kimono emerged from the boudoir a few years ago when trendy young things started raiding vintage stores and wearing them to festivals. They were cheap, colourful and evocative of the louche, bohemian early 70s, when the garment was last seen on stars such as David Bowie. Designers Alexander McQueen and Marni were quick to pick up on the trend.
This season you can pick up a Gucci kimono fit for an emperor. Embroidered and trimmed with mink, it costs a staggering £11,340.
But this is no longer a trend just for A-listers or lithe teens.
Marks & Spencer puts the kimono at the heart of its Christmas eveningwear collection, with a kimono-inspired black jacket for £65, a dress at £79 and two tops at £39.50, available from today. And next summer M&S will launch the world’s first ‘ sarono’, a cross between a kimono and a sarong.