Kimono Fashion Show Comes to Downtown L.A.
Japanese kimono designer and stylist Nobuaki Tomita will present a demonstration on kimono style on April 17 at the Japanese American National Museum in downtown Los Angeles. The Japan America Society of Southern California, founded in 1909, is presenting the event as part of the organization’s centennial celebration.
California is a frequent stop on Tomita’s kimono lecture circuit. Last October, he hosted a kimono demonstration and lecture in Los Angeles’ Hancock Park district at the official residence of the Consul General of Japan. Part fashion show, part lecture, Tomita’s presentations include a bit of kimono history mixed with humor as he demonstrates the proper way to wear a kimono and to fold and tie the obi, the long sash worn with the garment. Roughly five yards in length, the obi can be worn folded simply in the back or in elaborately constructed, origami-like pleats. Throughout his presentations, Tomita shows examples of his designs, which he first crafts from paper sketch, transfers to fabric and finishes by hand.
In Japan, Tomita creates original kimonos for television, films and magazines. At last year’s event in Los Angeles, the designer exhibited a Los Angeles–inspired creation.
“I have come very quickly to like Los Angeles,” Tomita said, speaking through an interpreter. “So I made a Los Angeles kimono. When you think of Los Angeles, you think of Hollywood, and cameras, and films and lights, and the letters of the Hollywood sign.” When unfolded, the kimono’s obi features the letters of the Hollywood sign, film reels and Klieg lights.
Another kimono features imagery of the oriental white stork, a bird that faced extinction in the wild nearly 40 years ago but has been brought back and is now protected at the Hyogo Prefectural Homeland for the White Stork in Toyooka City in Western Japan.
“In Japan, thinking about ecology has become something of a trend,” Tomita said.
The designer is currently working on a kimono design in homage to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Even though the kimono originated in Japan, I would like it to be more of an international experience,” Tomita said.
For more information about the April 17 event at the Japanese American National Museum, visit www.jas–socal.org.—Alison A. Nieder
