COVID-19 crisis threatens to unravel Japanese artist's kimono ambitions

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Japanese artist Hiroko Takahashi fought through sexism and suspicion from traditional kimono artisans to establish a globally known brand that ...

TOKYO: Japanese artist Hiroko Takahashi fought through sexism and suspicion from traditional kimono artisans to establish a globally known brand that sold hundreds of her original garments every month: Until the COVID-19 devastation hit.Advertisement

She also has a contract to provide yukata for a new, luxury hotel as Japan gears up to host the Olympics.Success took time. When she began, traditional dyers hated her designs and refused to work with her. When she called to check on progress, they'd hang up.She persisted until she was selling 100 to 200 made-to-order yukata a month - remarkable success in an industry so steadily declining that sales now hover around 16 per cent of what they were in 1981, according to government data.

Though Takahashi is teaching and eking out income making kimono fabric masks, her income has taken a major hit. Her yukatas started at 60,000 yen and kimono at 3 million yen, but the masks go for just 1,400 yen each.

 

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