This woman combined her love for kimono with her love for Pokémon, and the results are incredible!
Kimono occupy a very unique position in the world of fashion. On the one hand, they have a direct connection to centuries of Japanese cultural history, but at the same time, they remain perfectly acceptable attire in the present day, especially for women.
Because they can be worn in contemporary settings, there’s room for kimono enthusiasts to incorporate modern colors and motifs into their ensembles. We recently saw that in practice with an elegantly cute lineup of Disney princess (and villainess) kimono, and here with another great example is Japanese Twitter user Misamaru (@misamaru_boc), modeling a trio of Pokémon kimono outfits.
Misamaru’s Pokémon power trio consists entirely of Legendary Pokémon, with collective dominion over the land, sea, and air. In addition to the ready-to-rumble Groudon above, she’s also paid tribute to Dragon/Flying-Type Rayquaza…
…and Groudon’s serenely powerful rival, lord of the ocean Kyogre.
Groudon and Rayquaza appear on haori, the jacket-like upper covering worn with kimono, while Kyogre is featured on both the haori and the kimono robe itself. Accessorizing is always important, and on that front Misamaru sports both a handbag and obi (sash) ornament styled after the instantly recognizable Poké Ball.
Even with Pokémon being even more popular in its home country than anywhere else in the world, though, you can’t just walk into a Japanese department store or kimono shop and ask for a Pocket Monster haori, so Misamaru made these amazing fashions herself. In sharing photos of the production process for the Groudon haori, she says she started by drawing the character on the fabric using an air-soluble liquid chalk marker, the markings from which evaporate with time. Once the linework was complete, she hand-embroidered it with the appropriate coloring, cut out the Legendary Pokémon, and attached it to the back of the haori using appliqué techniques.
Online commenters have been gushing over the designs, with reactions including:
“I can’t imagine how much time you poured into these, but I can’t tell you enough how truly, truly lovely they are.”
“That Groudon is so cool looking! It’s like he’s all set to fight.”
“These were the three coolest Pokémon when I was in elementary school, so I love seeing them like this.”
“I want ‘em all.”
Misamaru also has plenty of non-Pokémon-related ideas too, like these outfits that combine kimono with the lines of a modern, flowing skirt.
“Kimono are meant to be worn, and to be enjoyed freely,” says Misamaru, and if that line of thinking means we get to see more breathtaking creations from her in the future, it’s a philosophy we can definitely get behind.
Source: Twitter/@misamaru_boc via IT Media
Iimages: Twitter/@misamaru_boc
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Follow Casey on Twitter for more reasons old Japan and new Japan are both awesome.