Woman’s Short-Sleeved Robe with Design of Bomber Aircraft

Patterned with twin engined bombers cruising through a night sky, this short sleeved kimono is a playfully chic celebration of Japan’s military prowess. The garment is a superb example of meisen, a durable textile made from machine spun lower grade silk or synthetic fiber mainly between the 1910s and 1950s in Japan’s Kantō region.

Meisen heralded the arrival of mass fashion in Japan. The popularity of exuberant designs, drawn from contemporary art world trends and current affairs such as Japan’s military pursuits, was fostered by this fabric’s affordability. Like this example, many garments imitated kasuri (ikat) textiles, where, prior to hand weaving, the threads are painstakingly tie dyed by hand to produce a distinctive blurred effect. Manufacturers of meisen streamlined this process by applying the patterns with stencils, and using synthetic dyes and mechanical looms.