Kimono is one of Japan’s most iconic cultural symbols. Kimono is incredibly beautiful and elegant and has the potential to become a global textile art and a sustainable fashion model.

However, the demand for kimonos is constantly shrinking. The market size in the 1970s was worth JPY1.8 ~ 2.0 trillion shrank to JPY200 billion in 2025, or 10~20% of the amount in the peak period.

All my friends and I are having trouble dealing with the kimono. We inherited our mothers’ kimonos, but we don’t use them, and they’ve stayed in a closet for many years, taking a lot of space. The market value of an old precious kimono is as cheap as dirt due to shrinking demand. In our mothers’ generation, it was common to spend a lot of money on a kimono, because it was a woman’s asset and treasure.

As a premise, the logic of beauty is completely different from Western fashion.

• Western fashion is body-centric design and emphasizes shape. Western clothing is cut to fit the body, but the Kimono is structure-centric, and the body is wrapped, folded, and sashed to fit the cloth. Kimono hides the body shape. Beauty comes from structure, not exposure.
• Western fashion varies by time of day, with clothing changing between day and night. Kimono is based on formality. It is designed for social formality and seasonal symbolism.

• Formality is not the same as price or labor. The most costly, most painstaking textiles can be the least formal.
• Seasonal appropriateness is more important than time of day.
• Japanese traditional culture is not premised on the night social.

Unique Features of Kimono

• One size, infinite adjustment
• The garment is flat. It is made from straight lines, which means almost no fabric waste.
• A Kimono is cut from a single bolt of cloth (tanmono), about 38cm wide and 13m long—all straight cuts, with no curves, no darts, and no shaping seams.
• Kimono is designed to be repaired, reused, and inherited.

Cultural Significance of Kimono

Kimono is not just clothing, but is a complete system of textiles, tailoring, seasonal rules, social codes, and craftsmanship.

• It is also a vessel of memory and a language of social etiquette. Most formal furisode and tomesode were tailored as a bride’s trousseau.
• The family crest on the kimono signaled the family tradition and linkage.
• The garment is re-tailored for a new wearer, which is not a repair, but a transformation.
• When you wear an inherited kimono, you also wear the memory of the one who wore it before you. In other words, just like Bordeaux wine, kimono speaks of its terroir.
• It is zero-waste, one of the most sustainable garments in the world.

• Gender-neutral by design
• A textile-based art form, a platform for textile innovation – dyeing, weaving, pattern design, and craftsmanship.

The garment itself is not the problem; the system needs to evolve. Problems lie in the Distribution systems, and the difficulty of dressing and maintenance are barriers to entry.

Price ranges of Kimono (approximate) in Japanese Yen

• Cotton/yukata: 5,000 – 30,000
• Wool: 10,000 ~ 40,000
• Polyester: 20,000 ~ 60,000
• SilkTtsumugi, Komon): 40,000 ~ 150,000
• Formal silk (Houmongi, Furisode): 80,000~500,000
• Hand-dyed / Artist-made: 300,000 ~ 2,000,000

My kimono made of silk cost 300,000, and obi(sash) cost 300,000. It took about a month for tailoring.

Tailoring cost:

• Women’s kimono: 25,000 ~ 60,000
• Men’s kimono: 20,000 ~ 40,000

A complete set includes:

Kimono, Obi(belt), Obi-ita(still board), Obi-makura (pillow), Undergarments, Datejime (ties), Collar (Haneri), Socks (Tabi), Sandals (Zori)

The kimono is also challenging because it is a masterpiece of craftsmanship and a complex cultural system.

• Dressing takes time and skill.
• Tailoring is expensive and slow.
• The industry has not modernized its sizing, pricing, or international support. There is no international sizing system, no global distribution or customer support.

For the future generation, what should we do?

Kimono has enormous future potential because it is sustainable, modular, and artistic. The garment is perfectly beautiful.

What we need to do is modernize the infrastructure around Kimono, such as sizing, pricing, logistics, and customer support. Then, Kimono can become a global cultural asset.

For example, Yamato Co., Ltd. is a forward-looking company. They develop four brands, each has a unique character. In addition to the authentic “Kimono Yamato”, there are Y.& SONS for men, KIMONO ARCH for cute fashion, and THE YARD. I’m impressed with men’s Kimono by Y.& SON. They are cool and fashionable. Their effort to try to cope with a variety of demands should be rewarded.