Japan has had the idea of Ethical Fashion
for a long ago.
In the old days in Japan, when clothes and fabrics were not abundant as nowadays, Kimono which is traditional Japanese clothing, and Obi which is a long decorative belt warp for kimono were treated with great care.
When the role as a Kimono was over, the used fabrics of the parts that were still usable were reused to remake into Haori which is a traditional Japanese hip or thigh-length jacket, or under-robe worn under a kimono.
Even after that, people still reused the textiles from old wear and recycling them into the cushion, bag, or use as a Furoshiki; reusable wrapping cloth.
In the end, when it was finally totally worn out, the fabrics were still used for crafting or remade into a smaller items and used up without waste. It seems to be a precursor to today's Eco-friendly fashion trend. This process was done for granted in the old days in Japan.
Hawaiian shirts and Aloha shirts are now famous as one of the Hawaiian cultures, but it is said that it has started with this Japanese sustainable clothing culture brought by Japanese immigrants who moved to Hawaii. To reduce waste, they started reusing parts of old Kimonos to make their own shirts.
Why don’t we adopt this Eco-friendly clothing culture into our lifestyle and re-purpose textiles? You can use the used or vintage Kimono fabrics for your sewing projects and create your original items! You don't always need to require complicated dressmaking techniques. You can also remake it into something simple. Moreover, if you make the things yourself, it will lead to leaving memories.
Vintage Kimono could be used as a light jacket, robe, cover-up, or You can make the most of beautiful silk fabric for your craft project to revive and creates handmade items.
