Kimonos and obi are indispensable for special occasions such as coming-of-age ceremonies and weddings. The spirit of Heizo Tatsumura, the founder of Tatsumura, laid the foundation for the elegance of Tatsumura's textiles, which is renowned for its excellence in art textiles and loved by many female writers and actresses, and which is still fresh and classy even in the modern era of Reiwa. I will also introduce this.

A new expression created by the overflowing imagination of the first generation Heizo

The first generation Heizo Tatsumura (photo below) entrusted two worlds to textiles. One was to restore old textiles, which I introduced last time, and the other was to use our ingenuity to create new textiles. When creating this new textile, Hirazo first focused on the ``three-dimensional feel'' that conventional textiles lacked.

To explain in more detail, the first Heizo's top priority when innovating textiles was to create a three-dimensionality that went beyond conventional wisdom on the surface of a two-dimensionally constructed textile.

Heizo's ability to create new textiles one after another through his overflowing imagination is one of the reasons why he is highly regarded as a producer. With his advanced technology, he obtained many patents and utility models. Among them, the textile that is said to be Heizo's ideal is ``Kokechi Ori'', which expresses tie-dyeing through weaving.

Kote-ori is a type of puffed weaving that was granted utility model rights in 1920, and can be said to be the technique that most clearly embodies the ideals of the first generation. The fukuro obi in the photo, ``Kokechiori Kochohananishiki,'' is one such example.The weaving mechanism can be summed up simply by twisting the ground and pattern strongly in both the warp and weft. The twisted yarn is used, and after it is woven, it is subjected to steam heat treatment to shrink the highly twisted yarn.The highly twisted yarn shrinks, creating unevenness on the surface, giving the cloth a nuance similar to tie-dyeing. This obi is a gorgeous piece of work that elegantly combines butterflies and peonies, which are said to be the king of a hundred flowers, and has the meaning of auspiciousness on a bright woven cloth.

Obi: Tatsumura Art Textile
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