Japanese Kimonos Publications available from www.khalilicollections.org

A publication covering the Khalili Collection of Kimono has been printed in three languages (English, French and Italian), and a forthcoming publication will examine the impact of Kimono on Japanese and world culture. The Khalili Collection of kimono comprises more than 450 garments and spans three hundred years of Japanese textile artistry. It is one of the world’s most outstanding private collections of traditional Japanese kimono. The form of the T-shaped, straight-seamed, front- wrapping kimono has changed very little over the centuries, yet the Collection reveals an astonishing variety of designs. In Japanese dress it is the surface decoration, not the cut and construction, that is important and indications of gender, age, status, wealth and taste are expressed through the choice of colour and pattern.