"Kōryū"

Antique and vintage kimonos, haori, and obi typically don’t have material composition labels. These labels only became standard with mass-produced clothing. In traditional kimono tailoring, fabrics are chosen and tailored specifically to the wearer, with material details often only noted on the fabric itself. Even today, kimono tailors usually don’t include composition labels on finished garments.

Most kimonos are handmade by specialized sewing professionals. Identifying the exact fabric composition of vintage kimonos can be challenging without laboratory testing. I’ve tested with more accessible and widely used techniques to analyze and determine the material. Based on the production era and fabric quality, I label items I’m confident are silk as 100% silk.

However, rare cases do exist where silk is used for the warp and synthetic fibers for the weft, even in older kimonos. For items I’m uncertain about, I use the label silk (or other materials like cotton, linen or wool) "& more” to indicate mixed materials. While I carefully assess each piece using my experience, I can’t guarantee absolute accuracy in every case.