Art Du Sarasa (L’)

Histoires De Carres > Spring-Summer 2019

From the 16th century and throughout the Edo period - from the early 17th to the 19th centuries - Portuguese merchants exported Indian calicos to Japan. These cotton fabrics with their bright colours and geometric motifs were markedly different to the indigo cotton and hemp of Japanese textiles, and they quickly became popular. Used for everything from wrapping objects to making kimonos, sirasas - a term derived from the Portuguese word for calicos - were soon being produced by Japanese weavers. They took care to perpetuate the decorative style, combining it over time with their own ideas. Aline Honore has created a sumptuous kimono made from a patchwork of motifs borrowed from these fabrics.