Thursday 4 September, 6 - 7 pm (BST): Online Talk, How Old Is My Kimono? Redefining Luxury Through 100 Years of Fashion, Textile, and Taste with Caroline Sato

This talk traces the shifting meaning of luxury in kimonos throughout the 20th century, revealing how textile technology, economic change, and evolving social values shaped the garments and their cultural significance. While the kimono silhouette appears timeless, it is in the textile and how it is worn that dramatic changes can be read. Drawing on 100 years of kimono fashion magazines, especially Utsukushii Kimono, and the lived experiences of Japanese women through their tansu (kimono chests), I explore the evolving ideas of sophistication and taste.

From wedding trousseaux in postwar Japan to inherited garments now resurfacing in the secondhand market, kimonos carry layers of personal and societal history. This presentation will show how to decode these garments using visual and tactile clues to understand their era, intended use, and symbolic value. As copyright restrictions limit access to archival images, examining textiles becomes an essential and accessible method for dating kimonos and understanding fashion beyond Western paradigms. This talk offers insight into changing taste, sustainability, and craftsmanship concepts that remain deeply relevant in contemporary fashion discourse. 

Caroline Sato was born in rural Australia, where she grew up surrounded by the raw beauty of nature - a sensibility that continues to influence her work. Trained in fashion design, she completed her Master's degree with a thesis on kimono fashion, laying the foundation for a lifelong engagement with textile history and cultural dress. Now based in the vibrant sprawl of Bangkok, Sato works as a fashion theorist whose approach blends academic research with hands-on exploration. She is interested in how handmade clothing traditions can be sustained and reimagined in the future, and in the role of community in preserving and evolving these practices. Sato's work has brought her into collaboration with weavers and embroiderers in Kashmir, designers and museums in Tamil Nadu, and artisan communities across Asia. Her lectures have been delivered in Russia, India, Japan, and Thailand, and her creative work—from garments to exhibitions—has appeared on bodies and walls from Mexico to Finland to New Zealand.

In 2024, she exhibited at the Tokyo Biennale before relocating to Bangkok. Through her research, teaching, and artistic practice, Sato seeks to bridge the worlds of tradition and innovation, crafting new narratives around dress, identity, and sustainability.

All online talks during London Textile Month are 40 minutes long, followed by a 20-minute Q&A. A PDF with the Zoom link will be sent to you upon booking. A recording will be sent out in case you are unable to attend the live talk or would like to rewatch it.

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