Categories: Mums in Heels|

Beyond the kimono

By |Published On: January 16th, 2015|

Kazu Huggler is one of the women I can never get tired of observing. Unfortunately I can’t stop feeling that I fail every time I try to capture her ethereal willow-tree-of-a-woman beauty and tenderness.      

Luckily I can always lean on showing her designs instead, because Kazu has always something to say with her garments. Her sartorial language speaks volumes of intellectual emotions, natural beauty and female universes, all done in a very subtle and yet vivid way, gently whispering stories as if you hear your favourite grandmother singing you a lullaby.      

Last weekend Kazu Huggler was a guest speaker at the Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich where she spoke about the way the kimono impacts the woman who wears it.  Kazu Huggler started her presentation “Feeling Fashion” with a reminder about the greatest quality of traditional kimonos: they last at least three generations, given from a mother to her daughter and then granddaughter. Kimonos are a true expression of longevity, family strength and endurance, and tradition.

Choosing your kimono and dressing it are parts of a unique ritual and they always are influenced by the context: what is the occasion, the social status and the age of the wearer and the self-image she wants to transmit.           
Kazu’s artful skills of designing garments for the modern European and Asian woman are firmly grounded in Japanese tradition and aesthetics, which she likes to constantly re-think, re-shape and re-interpret. In her designs she uses traditional Japanese prints such as family crescents with their fine symbolism, the cylindrical, not hourglass shape, simplicity without pretence and freedom from habit. Like many Japanese the designer sees beauty in the decay, the imperfect and simple designs.                

For her latest collection Kazu created all the garments in blue, being inspired by the different shades and tones that the water of the lake can turn  during the day. The designer says: “For every woman there is a right blue”. Yet in the sea of blue dresses, skirts and blouses, there is one red dress and it became the bestseller of the season.                      

Last year Kazu presented as well her bridal collection showing once again a different and unique type of woman. Her presence is quiet but really vivid and strong. In the designer’s words “the bride is not any more that princess who sleeps and waits for her prince”. She is a working woman and she needs a more practical and comfortable wear. In that sense the bride we see is more down to earth, but insouciant and soignée as ever.                                                

This last head piece was created by the Tohoku Grandmas who work within a project created and supported by KAZU and the Three Cranes Association in order to create ongoing support to the region of the tsunami-struck in 2011 Rikuzentakata.  

Three Cranes Association uses fashion, textiles and art to foster social and environmental efforts to rebuild the damaged infrastructures. At the same time, the association wants to support local and traditional Japanese handicrafts while bridging the gap between European and Japanese cultures.

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About the Author: Tsitaliya Mircheva

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Tsitaliya is a writer and fashion journalist for more than 20 years. She founded Mums in Heels 10 years ago and keeps growing and evolving together with her community or fashionable mums and responsible consumers. Fashion and Wellness are her most favourite topics to write about.