The Shibori Series: Shibori in Modern Fashion
Welcome to the final post in our Shibori Series! In this post, we’ll be talking about how Shibori has evolved in the fashion world and how you can see it in current trends today from across the world.
First, we talked about the cultural history of Shibori; then we explored many of the different methods used to create Shibori dying. Now that you’ve learned a little more, you may have actually started noticing it in your own life. From people you pass on the street, to accessories and décor sold in store, Shibori can be found quite often in culture and trends today. Let’s dig deeper into the influences Shibori style has had on today’s tastes.
(Left: Tory Burch, Right: Boredart)
Clothing
Shibori patterns have been seen on the runway as recently as this year. Jun Nakamura, a Japanese fashion designer based in London, tapped into his heritage and used Shibori as the basis for his Abstraction Collection. He even has a personal connection with the technique, as he was raised in a family who owned a kimono shop – he learned the technique early on and helped hand-dye fabric.
Nakamura not only incorporates the Shibori pattern into his latest designs, but the binding as well. Many of his items feature sections of fabric that are bound together in the traditional Shibori fashion, adding a 3D texture to his collection.
Other designers and brands that have recently used Shibori in their lines are Diane Von Furstenburg, Tory Burch, Surface to the Air, and Band of Outsiders.
(Modern Shibori - Left: Diane von Furstenberg. Right: Surface to air)
Accessories and décor
Today, you can get the Shibori look on almost anything. Buy towels, pillowcases, or even underwear from Etsy with those classic indigo lines.
(Left: Las Cositas de Beach. Right: Room for Tuesday.)
Kate Anderson of Modern Eve was interviewed on website The Nest about her favorite Shibori home accessories. She included towel shams, phone cases, notebooks, and make-up bags. If it can exist in your home, chances are there is a Shibori variant of it.
The Future of Shibori
Experimentation with the concept of 3D Shibori is starting to become popular. This technique takes the idea of binding that traditional Shibori offers, but then puts the bound fabric under heat. This results in warped textures, contorted lines, and melted imprints. At first, images of 3D Shibori may look like fruit and vegetables, or microscopic cells – but examine further, and you’ll see it’s actually fabric!
We’re excited to see how else Shibori changes and influences fashion and design in the future.
In case you missed our first two posts in this series... check out the history of shibori and the process of shibori.
