Bold, colorful, and stylish, Robe Japonica is the only brand that has embraced innovative patterns and designs in men's kimono in such a radical way. Published on By On a small street running parallel to, and just off, Meiji Dori, is a shop with an entrance set back a little from the street. It is easy to miss if it is closed, but when open there is a mannequin wearing kimono outside.
If you venture into , you will be surprised by the most colorful display of garments in any kimono shop that you have ever seen. You might be even more surprised to find out that this shop specializes in menswear. About nine years ago, I remember seeing stunning images of young men wearing yukata with designs of cards, Mondrian-colored rectangles, and a gentleman in a kimono cape and top hat, on my Facebook feed.
I noted to myself that this was pretty revolutionary in traditionally dull kimono menswear, and decided to go to the pop-up in Harajuku that was being advertised. That was the summer of 2015, and the store opened in Harajuku in December of the same year. I have followed Robe Japonica's journey since that first pop-up exhibition.
Robe Japonica's founder Ueoka Taro was a newspaper journalist for 20 years before he ventured into fashion. He grew up in a temple, and he remembers his grandmother sewing kimono. He wore it sometimes as a small child, and then when he was in middle school he started to wonder why women's kimono were so lovely and colorful, but men's kimono were always dull and .