New Hillestad exhibition features Japanese kimonos

19 Feb 2014    

“Japan and Fashion: Influence and Impact” opens in the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery on Monday, Feb. 24, 2014. The exhibit, curated by Barbara Trout, features Japanese influenced garments from the Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design’s historic costume collection, along with traditional Japanese garments on loan for the exhibition.  The exhibit is devoted to the interface between traditional Japanese dress and contemporary Western fashion. 

Over 18 traditional kimonos in various shapes and sizes are included, along with a significant collection of obis. This feature of the exhibit is due to a generous gift from Kathryn Ericksen Lohr, an alumna of the College of Education and Human Sciences, who lived in Tokyo with her husband James in the late 1980s and early 90s. While there, she collected many kimonos and met renowned Japanese fashion designer Hanae Mori, resulting in the inclusion of several Mori garments in the show. Mori was first in a line of important Japanese designers to gain entrance into the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Parisenne, making her first showing in Paris in1977. The exhibit also includes an ornately embroidered wedding kimono that was acquired by the Thomas Woods family of Lincoln in the late 1970s and was donated to the collection by Averi Woods. Items from the collection of Omaha textile collector Jay Rich round out this unique exhibition.