16 Textiles


Meisen kimono, Japan, 1920-60, silk in plain weave, double ikat, hand-sewn, donated by Henriette Friis. All images © MAK/Christian Mendez


Omeshi Meisen kimono with truncated star and circle motifs,


Japan, 1920-60, silk crepe fabric with a few metallic threads, double ikat, hand-sewn, donated by Henriette Friis


Meisen kimono with loop pattern, Japan, 1920-60, silk in plain weave, double ikat, hand-sewn, donated by Henriette Friis


Meisen haori with Fuji motif and cloud pattern,


Japan, 1920-60, silk in plain weave, double ikat, hand-sewn, donated by Henriette Friis


Meisen haori with floral or firework-like motif in the pattern,


Japan, 1920-60 Silk in plain weave, double ikat, hand-sewn, donated by Henriette Friis


Meisen haori, striped, with arrow feather pattern (Yabane), Japan, 1920-60, silk in plain weave, warp ikat, hand-sewn, donated by Henriette Friis


POWERFUL PATTERNS T


he Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (MAK) has received a donation of approximately 60


kimono and haori from the Danish collector Henriette Friis. To mark this occasion, the MAK is dedicating an exhibition


to Meisen (raw silk)


kimonos and haoris from the first half of the 20th century. Many early 20th-century kimono


are made from Meisen, a mechanically processed type of schappe silk woven from silk obtained from defective cocoons. Te introduction of mechanised


spinning technology


made it possible to use this lower- quality silk to create a thick, lustrous material that was both long-lasting and relatively inexpensive. For a long time, silk was reserved for


the


privileged upper class of Japan; it was only in the late 19th century that technological innovations in the production of schappe silk led to greater availability of the material. Meisen is a commercial term used to describe


a textile of inexpensive


machine-reeled silk thread, coloured with synthetic dyes, that was developed in the 1880s. Western dye technology adapted to traditional Japanese dye methods resulted in new, cost-effective


techniques and


dazzling, multicoloured pictorial designs resembling paintings. Te exhibition is showing colourful


pieces patterned in the bold ‘all over’ style with modernist-inspired designs from the Taisho (1912-26) and Showa periods


(1926-89), featured to


illustrate the characteristic features of this special form of kimono. Tese


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Meisen kimono and their distinctive features also tell the story of Japan’s engagement with European modernity and its significance for the type of ‘new women’ that emerged during


this era,


Part of their popularity can be attributed to the fact that they could be bought off-the-peg in Japanese department stores, allowing less


‘affluent’ consumers to switch from cotton and simple bast fibre fabrics to silk. Both traditional and Western-


inspired motifs were used to decorate these affordable kimono, which were worn by the upper and middle classes as everyday wear and by the working class, such as the increasing number of women who worked in the new textile mills, as formal attire. Te range of patterns and designs reveals the dynamism of Japanese textile design that could be found in the early 20th century – a period of economic prosperity and cultural expansion. Although Western-style clothes were gaining popularity among women, the kimono continued to be worn. Te traditional cut of the garment remained the same, but the motifs were dramatically enlarged and new designs appeared, inspired by Western styles such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Teir striking patterns reflected the confident spirit of the age and provided an exuberant visual statement for the modern, independent, urban woman.


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influenced clothing completely replaced kimonos


before Western- in everyday life.


Traditional and Western-inspired motifs were used to decorate these kimonos


While at the beginning of the first


bloom of Meisen kimonos in the 1920s, Western workday clothing was already the norm for the majority of working men in Japan, it remained an exception for women, who were still much more bound to traditional roles. Te Meisen kimonos with modern patterns, which were inspired by


cultural interactions between


Japan and Europe, offered women an ideal way to present themselves as both modern and traditional. Tese striking kimonos played a central role for ‘modern women’ in the first half of the 20th century in Japan. Tey were predominantly worn by Japanese women who were employed and thus represented the type of woman who strove for independence. Over the course of the 1920s, Meisen kimonos became popular workaday and evening wear for women, partly because they were significantly more affordable than formal silk kimonos


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and could also be cleaned at home due to their durable material. In creating these exciting new


patterns, textile designers benefited from technological advances made in the late 19th century. Power-operated spinning machines and jacquard looms introduced from Europe speeded up production and lowered costs, while chemical dyes allowed for the creation of dazzling colours. New types of silk and innovative patterning techniques were also developed, making relatively inexpensive, highly fashionable garments available to more people than ever before. Tese vibrant kimono


styles remained


popular until the 1950s. Te patterns were also created by


using chemical dyes with an innovative direct-dyeing technique, which made Meisen the fabric of choice for fashionable, casual kimono. Chemical dyes mixed with rice paste were applied through stencils to both the warp (longitudinal) and weft (horizontal) threads prior to weaving to create intricate patterns. Tis stencil-printing technique allowed for the creation of complex images for the kimono. In order to create these innovative patterns of the Meisen kimonos, the designers drew from both the Japanese design repertoire and European modernism. Influences from modernist art and decorative arts are clearly noticeable, including not only the movements of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, but also the Arts and Crafts Movement and Expressionism. It built on the influence of Japonisme, which had


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been popular in Europe since the second half of the 19th century and had already had a significant effect on Western art and design – including the influential Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna. What is exceptional about these


Meisen kimonos is not only the mechanically processed raw silk designed with ikat colour gradients, but also the often vibrant colour design of their patterns, which became possible due to the use of synthetic aniline dyes. Tese innovations clearly distinguished them from the traditional silk kimonos that were still in use until the 19th century and contributed to the popularity of kimonos, which increasingly became a symbol of the change in Japanese society and the interplay between tradition and modernity in the first half of the 20th century. Te kimonos of this era successfully


document the multifaceted cultural transfer processes and the artistic interplay between Europe and Japan at the time. At the end of the 19th century, silk kimonos with intricate patterns at the hem and everyday cotton kimonos with graphic patterns were widespread; however, the birth of the Meisen kimono revolutionised textile design in the first half of the 20th century and introduced modernist influences and bold, large- scale patterns. Te curved lines of some Meisen designs, which were previously


reserved exclusively for


high-priced silk fabrics, were particularly popular. Tanks to


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