New Designs at Yamatoya [Yamatoya shiire shingata]

Catalog note / 解説

The Edo period (1615–1868) saw the rise of a fashion industry similar to the one we know today. It developed most clearly among the large urban centres of Edo (Tokyo), Kyoto and Osaka. Knowledge about changing fashion trends was shared through woodblock-printed images known generically as <i>ukiyo-e</i> or ‘images of the floating world’. These were published in the form of prints and illustrated books. This image of the actor Bandō Mitsugorō V relates to the practice of kimono stores collaborating with Kabuki theatres. They would produce summer kimono and other goods with ‘actor patterns’ that incorporated family crests and motifs worn by actors on-stage. Kimono stores profited from fans fl…