Who Can Wear Upcycled Kimono?

I say “everyone” because wearing modern styled clothing recreated from upcycled textiles is not cultural appropriation. Especially *if and because* the clothes are being recreated by a person from the culture where the textiles originate.

This is merely scratching the surface of a large and complex issue of cultural ownership that I have been unpacking for myself and writing about, since the launch of Made by Yuki.

Simply put, as a Japanese person, especially woman, I feel triggered when I see sexualized and commodified images of Kimonos in the context of western capitalism. That applies to clothing mislabeled “Kimono”; suggestive advertisements with such garments worn by non-Japanese; and images of (historical) people in Kimonos identified/ labeled as sexual objects.
It also applies to non-Japanese and privileged groups of people profiting from selling cultural assets that are not their own.

The clothes I make are intentionally modern, simple and designed to feature the textiles. I purposefully create silhouettes that do not resemble the Kimono, with the purpose of drawing your attention to the textiles instead of the often misconstrued image of “Kimono.”

So yes, a person of Japanese heritage may feel a particularly strong attachment to these pieces due to their ancestral history. But if you are someone who loves textiles (like I do!) I honor your appreciation of our crafts as well. When you wear my apparel, your intentions is not to wear a Kimono, but to appreciate the history and wonderfulness of Japanese textiles.