About 7 or 8 years ago, I found an old catalog of fabric swatches in a secondhand bookstore in Kyoto. There were a bunch of small pieces of Nishijin-ori fabrics attached to the pages, which were most likely used as fabric samples for kimono sashes.
I've always had an interest in kimonos and obis(sash) that were woven with gold threads, and I've seen my fair share of them that were manufactured during the Edo period, or even older than that.
I think the fabrics that they use are very interesting, but I also feel that they are often a bit too extravagant or fancy-looking. I thought that maybe by using the traditional techniques that were used to make these fabrics, I could create something new that was more suited towards my own, and Visvim's sense of style.
In most cases, silk is used for the warp and weft threads of Nishijin-ori fabrics. We intentionally used natural indigo dyed hemp yarn for the weft thread to provide a somewhat tougher look. We also used various colored gold threads to create the triangle motifs, a pattern that is commonly used by ethnic groups throughout the world, in an attempt to give it a more three-dimensional look.
The finished woven fabric combined the usual elegance typical of Nishijin-ori fabrics and a new masculine feel that is distinctly Visvim.
Nishijin-ori
The original form of Nishijin-ori has an extensive history dating back to around the 5th or 6th century. It is believed that settlers from China migrated to the site of present-day Uzumaki in Kyoto Prefecture, and brought with them techniques in sericulture and silk weaving.
During the Heian period, artisans who inherited these silk fabric techniques were brought together under a governmental textiles office called Oribe no Tsukasa established by the Imperial Court, where luxury fabrics such as twill and brocade were produced. As it were, a government-managed textile industry was being operated.
During the Muromachi period, a weaving group called the Otoneriza was established, who in addition to responding to the demands of the Imperial Court, also met the requests of orders made by general aristocrats and members of the samurai warrior class. However, during the middle of the Muromachi period, the Onin War, a civil war between forces loyal to the eastern lords and western lords broke out throughout Japan, with the most intense fighting held in the city of Kyoto. The fighting continued on for 11 years, forcing many artisans to flee and take shelter in nearby cities, particularly Sakai in Osaka Prefecture.
As a result, the entire textile industry was nearly extinguished. However, after the war, the artisans made their way back to Kyoto and the textile industry was revived in Omiya Imadegawa, the exact location the Western army had occupied during the war, which in Japanese was called 'Nishijin', which was how the name Nishijin-ori was derived. The Nishijin-ori trade began to flourish once again, and artisans in the Omiya area brought back the Otoneriza. By the middle of the Muromachi period, they became widely recognized as the leaders of the textile industry in Kyoto.
During this same time period, a new weaving method called the takahata (raised loom) was imported from China, which made it possible to produce mon-ori (brocade) using sakizome yarn, a traditional cotton fabric that is dyed before the weaving process. This firmly established the district of Nishijin as a major textile-producing center of the country.
Both Nishijin-ori and the district of Nishijin were recognized by the Imperial Court, and in addition to receiving conservation; they continued to produce high quality fabrics by incorporating techniques that originated during the Ming Dynasty in China. This became the silk fabric passed down for generations as a symbolic craft of Japan.
Visvim
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