Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-to-Wear in America

For more than 100 years, the kimono has been a motif in Amer. art and pop culture. It appears in paintings, drawings, prints, and photos, and on the bodies of entertainers, artists, and fashion-conscious Amer. women. Now, it has been appropriated by the creators of a new American art, art-to-wear, which realizes the potential of clothing as a means of artistic expression. This catalogue of an exhibition held at The Textile Museum in Wash., D.C., explores the use and meaning of the kimono in America and traces the transformation of this quintessential Japanese garment from its ethnic origins, through its many appearances in fine art, costume, and high fashion, to its role in the contemporary Art-to-Wear Movement. In shrink wrap. 130 Illus., many in color.