MANILA, Philippines – Ever surprise what occurs to secondhand kimonos from Japan?
As no two kimonos are ever the identical, every bit is commonly owned by households and handed down by means of generations. However what occurs when the youthful ones now not put on the normal Japanese gown that their grandparents used to?
The premium silk or cotton material and the intricate hand-drawn designs danger being discarded, ending their lineage — thrown away, by no means to be worn once more.
However not on Marjorie Resuello-Kobayashi’s watch.
The 32-year-old Filipino lecturer and entrepreneur based mostly in Laguna noticed a chance to bridge the 2 cultures she loves, guided by her advocacy for sustainability.
Why not take these discarded kimonos and stitch new life into them?
As they are saying, one other man’s trash is one other girl’s handwoven treasure, and for Marjorie, this saying turned the catalyst of her family-run enterprise, Cool Kimono Crafts, which slowly stitched itself up in 2021, beginning with handsewn face masks produced from discarded kimono fabric patches.
At the moment, the Cool Kimono Crafts line makes use of the cultural magnificence, easy material, and distinctly intricate patterns of kimonos and transforms them into Filipiniana items — conventional sleeves and cuts reimagined as fashionable Filipiniana formalwear, barong, and even informal t-shirts for women and men.
Her creations have already made it to London and New York Style Week runways, worn proudly not simply by fashions of all ages and sizes but additionally by folks from around the globe who take delight in carrying two items of Asian tradition in a single trendy garment.
A standard thread
Cool Kimono Crafts made its artisanal native debut at ArteFino Truthful in Rockwell final August; her hybrid creations offered on mannequins stopped amazed fairgoers of their tracks.
“I used to be so shocked in regards to the reception, particularly because it was my first time, and my sales space setup was so easy in comparison with different, extra established manufacturers. I used to be so nervous,” Marjorie informed Rappler.
“However since nakakaiba siya, it labored. It’s one thing that promotes friendship between the Philippines and Japan. It’s diplomacy. And it’s sustainable. It’s one thing distinctive for them. I believe that’s why it catches their consideration,” she stated.
For a model that solely began in 2021, Marjorie didn’t have excessive hopes but; however what she did have was her ardour for the earth. As a Sustainable Improvement Objectives (SDG) and English professor in Japan, she knew her advocacy needed to be woven into no matter she pursued.
“Through the pandemic, journey halted and disposable masks harmed marine species,” she stated.
“I might share good practices of different folks, however I didn’t actually have my very own. So, that’s the place I began. In 2021, throughout the pandemic, I started the mission. At first, I didn’t put it up for sale critically — simply to buddies,” she stated.
Her first kimono masks used cotton, not silk, since masks needed to be double-layered. She experimented with scrunchies and different hair equipment, and shortly after, determined to broaden and promote extra.
“I needed the masks to be sustainable and trendy whereas additionally bringing a chunk of Japan nearer to Filipinos who couldn’t journey. It unexpectedly turned common,” she added. By 2024, the enterprise expanded into tote luggage, messenger luggage, pouches, equipment, passport holders, and the “Kimono Filipiniana.”
She joined trend reveals and group bazaars in Japan that celebrated worldwide friendship between Filipinos and Japanese. Later, again house, she joined a college bazaar in her alma mater, College of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños, throughout Girls’s Month in March — her first bazaar within the Philippines. The largest one to this point was ArteFino.
A ardour designer
Marjorie first fell in love with Japan in 2014, when she offered her undergraduate analysis at a convention. “It had at all times been a dream of mine to go to Japan, although it was very costly. I sought sponsors, and fortunately, I used to be capable of come,” she stated.
In 2015, UP Los Baños partnered with Nagoya College, which turned her college. As a grasp’s pupil, she joined each short-term and long-term trade packages. After her grasp’s, she pursued a PhD in Worldwide Improvement, returning in 2017.
The pandemic, nonetheless, disrupted her fieldwork within the Philippines, delaying her dissertation. Across the identical time, she acquired a job supply to change into a college researcher, which she prioritized. At the moment, she is in her third tutorial yr instructing as a lecturer at a college of international research in Japan, invited to show each English and SDGs in universities and excessive colleges.
However amid her quest for data, at what level did Cool Kimono Crafts are available in?
“The primary time I wore a kimono,” she recalled.
It was in 2016. throughout her long-term trade program. “That have amazed me. I felt one thing so particular carrying it and needed to do it once more. I obtained to know extra about Japanese tradition past anime, automobiles, and manga. Kimono opened one other door for me,” she shared.
By 2017, whereas working part-time instructing SDGs, her coronary heart opened up not solely to the fantastic thing about the kimono but additionally to the potential for love.
“In 2018, I met my husband by means of a typical good friend, my churchmate in Japan. At the moment, I wasn’t in search of a relationship. However we began hanging out as a bunch, we obtained to know one another extra,” she shared. In 2019, they started relationship, and in August 2023, they obtained married.
Lower from the identical fabric
Kimono Crafts began as — and continues to be — a mom-and-pop household enterprise.
Her mom, expert in stitching, helps Marjorie convey her designs to life, whereas her father, who retired early, now handles logistics and driving.
Being the eldest of 5, Marjorie is in control of conceptualization till the ultimate end result — imaginative and prescient, sketching, finance, and advertising and marketing, although social media is her weak level, she admitted. Nonetheless, she shared that her mom’s job is the toughest — the stitching of kimonos is “extraordinarily difficult as a result of you must protect the stream of the kimono’s patterns,” Marjorie defined.
Her sister makes equipment and likewise fashions for the model, which boosts her confidence, Marjorie fondly shared. Her different siblings assist with logistics and advertising and marketing.
For now, they’re nonetheless working from their house in Laguna, the place purchasers come for fittings, however Marjorie is hoping for a standalone boutique store quickly.
Marjorie stated they cater to each Japanese and Filipino consumers, making zero-waste gadgets equivalent to T-shirt patches and kimono earrings, priced from P850 to P1,200, which her sister makes to assist along with her tuition. Clothes and robes, such because the kimono Filipiniana items, price round P17,000, with each ready-to-wear and customised designs on the identical value and with purchasers in a position to decide on their material and colours.
“Every kimono is exclusive — usually hand-painted and bearing the artist’s seal — so every bit is one in all a form.”
Marjorie’s relationships with trusted outlets in Japan are simply as vital, too — that is the place she sources her silk kimonos, a lot of which have piles of unused or unsold items. “Sayang, kasi bawat isa (It’s wasteful, as a result of every bit) is a murals. Mahal ang silk (Silk is dear), and but they have been simply being discarded.”
“That’s why I really like working with the Japanese. As soon as you identify belief with them, they are going to actually assist you. I love their ethics — they take delight in craftsmanship and worth belief. That’s one thing I wish to convey into my very own model as effectively: constructing belief with folks.”
Just like the Filipiniana, kimonos in Japan at the moment are not often worn — at weddings, funerals, tea ceremonies, or the approaching of age at 20. For Marjorie, this similarity deepened her drive to convey these cultural symbols again, however in novel methods.
“I used to be actually shocked by the variety of inquiries! Largely ladies of their 30s and above are my prospects, although some males, too,” she stated. Marjorie additionally got here up with the “bundle” thought — since every kimono is one in all a form, why not use one kimono and create six gadgets out of it?
For Marjorie, it was a part of her zero-waste strategy. “Every a part of the kimono is used. We don’t waste something, which is vital for us. That approach, we honor the fabric and the tradition it represents.”
It’s a labor of affection that each member of the household contributes to — every design takes two weeks to a month to complete, all handmade, relying on the place the kimono is sourced.
“The Philippines and Japan are buddies, in any case. Via my designs, I wish to honor that relationship, promote sustainability, and function a bridge.”
The material of success
Cool Kimono Crafts’ massive break got here in January 2024, on Marjorie’s birthday, when she staged her personal trend present in Tagaytay.
“It was my first time, so, after all, we even had a same-day edit! We offered all our gadgets — luggage, kimono Filipiniana, even kimono fits. Many inquired, largely ladies of their 30s, and even males,” she stated in a mixture of English and Filipino.
The identical-day edit posted on Fb caught consideration, resulting in an invite to New York Style Week. Whereas she couldn’t be a part of on brief discover then, her designs nonetheless appeared on a Instances Sq. billboard, a lot to her glee.
However in September 2025, Marjorie’s designs lastly graced the runways of New York Style Week and London Style Week — a feat she by no means imagined potential when she first began with face masks again in 2021.
“It’s by no means too late to rediscover your strengths,” Marjorie stated.
Recognition from trend icons like Renee Salud, who praised her designs and expressed curiosity in collaborating after one in all her reveals, retains Marjorie raring to go however grounded. And being invited to trend reveals in New York and London this September is proof, she stated, “that Filipino creativity, craftsmanship, and coronary heart can stand on the worldwide stage.”
However why is that this cultural collaboration so vital to Marjorie? Apart from the enterprise bringing her household nearer, she desires to remind everybody that the Philippines and Japan are buddies.
“Filipinos are among the many prime migrant staff right here, particularly in Aichi Prefecture, the place I stay. Within the Philippines, so many Japanese firms have factories in Laguna, the place I’m from,” she stated.
“There are robust cultural and financial ties between the 2 international locations. And thru my designs, I wish to honor that relationship, promote sustainability, and function a bridge,” Marjorie added.
It’s nowhere to go however up for Marjorie, who has truly by no means formally studied trend design. Her model has been invited to bazaars organized by the Japanese Embassy, and she or he’s launching kimono sandals in Tokyo with a Laguna-based model quickly.
“I don’t have a trend background — I simply needed to put on trendy garments. However ardour led me right here,” she stated. And with that spirit, there may be sew rather more in retailer for Cool Kimono Crafts’ handwoven future. – Rappler.com
