The kimono—worn by women, men, and children—is the ultimate signifier of Japan: revered withinthe country as the embodiment of national culture and regarded internationally as an exoticfascination. Often viewed as a simple, unchanging garment, the kimono has been equated with“tradition” and seen as something static and timeless. This book, published to accompany a majorexhibition at the V&A, London, presents the kimono as dynamic and fashionable, and explores itssignificance in historical and contemporary contexts, both in Japan and in the West. Beautifully illustrated,it includes more than 200 kimono from collections at the V&A and around the world, as well asexamples of the ways in which they have been represented in paintings, prints, and photographs, andinterpreted more recently in popular culture and fashion, from Björk to David Bowie, John Galliano toIssey Miyake.