About us

Ho-ou Kimono was born out of an obsession with vintage Japanese textiles and a passion for sharing their beauty.

Japan has been famed for its textile techniques for hundreds of years - and with good reason! Kimono exemplify these skills in weaving, dyeing and embroidery.

But, for all their charm, even in Japan, kimono are not worn often. 

The kimono problem

Japan's economic success in the second half of the twentieth century saw silk kimono become accessible for more people. It became a tradition for brides to be given collections of kimono as part of a trousseau by their parents. While this is no longer a common practice, by some estimates, there are many millions of largely unused kimono in storage, unlikely to be worn more than a handful of times, if at all. 

A broad cultural ambivalence to wearing vintage clothes and a focus and value of the new contributed to this situation (although this is changing).

But they are beautiful!  And whether elaborate and highly decorative, or simple and refined, they express seasonality and regionality, an appreciation of the natural world and Japanese aesthetic, artistic, technical and cultural mastery.

It seemed a shame to let these gorgeous icons of art and culture to sit undisturbed and unloved. So Ho-ou Kimono was born. 

Our story

A ho-ou is a Japanese phoenix that symbolises regeneration. Taking inspiration from Japanese traditions for repurposing and remaking, we carefully source vintage kimono and obi from Japan for rebirth. We craft these exquisite fabrics, combined with new materials to create one-of-a-kind pieces to treasure, share and we hope - bring you delight. We also offer a small collection of carefully selected vintage Japanese apparel.

Australian-made and sustainable

Ho-ou Kimono's creations are made in a small studio in Naarm/Melbourne. We use a zero-waste approach (and reuse everything we can) and we don't outsource any part of the process. We aim to be sustainable but we don't skimp on the quality of our materials or making techniques. 

Come see us!

We sell our creations at several local markets and have a small selection of pieces for sale at Market Fair in Ferntree Gully.