Enjoyed by fashionable people in Edo with free thinking
It began as a fashion for the samurai families.
It is assumed that Edo Komon began to be dyed on clothing in the Muromachi era.
In the Edo era, it began to be used for Kamishimo, the formal wear for the samurai families. Each Daimyo family had a unique pattern; therefore it can be identified from the design of kimono.
The shogunate controlled luxury in the Edo era, and very small matters of living were controlled including for samurai families and ordinary people.
When the samurai visited Edo for alternate-year attendance, they could not wear shabby clothing. Komon developed in reflection of such feeling of samurai families.
Craftsmen competed with their skills.
Kimono for merchants was limited to pongee, cotton and hemp, and flashy colors were prohibited. It was acceptable to freely use brown and grey colors, and craftsmen in Edo expressed these two colors in various ways.
Ordinary people expressed their own "elegance" with free thinking. In order to satisfy them, craftsmen polished their skills, and dye craftsmen as well as craftsmen for pattern papers came from provinces to Edo. The types of designs increased and various dye techniques were developed one after another.
Coolness and elegance of Edo style is the characteristic of Edo Komon.
Craftsmanship in each process
"The attraction of Edo Komon is its crisp severity of Kamishimo, chastity and coolness, and elegance of Edo style."
This is the statement by Mr. Bunjiro Kobayashi, the third generation of "Some-no-Sato Futaba-en" who achieved prominence as a dye artist. Spirits of people who lived in Edo were expressed in dyed goods.
Edo Komon is
produced through the process generally including "pattern paper preparation," "engraving," "dyeing," "washing" and "steaming."
Expression of a playful mind
Edo Komon is roughly divided into two: "Sadame Komon" exclusively for samurai families and "Iware Komon" for merchants.
"Sadame Komon" includes "Same Komon," "Takeda Hishi," "Omeshiju" for the Tokugawa shogunate family," "Umebachi" for the Hosokawa family and "Kikubishi" for the Maeda family.
For "Iware Komon," some use themes from daily lives such as "Hatsuyume (first dream of the new year)" expressing the design of Mt. Fuji and eggplant as well as "Mochitsuki" expressing mortar and pestle. It looks like a solid color on first glance, but a little humorous when looked at closely. The disposition of people who lived in Edo abundant with wit is remembered.
Skills of expert craftsmen in a close look
Work including pattern engraving, dyeing and steaming is normally handled by independent professional craftsmen, respectively. There are professionals for engraving, dye craftsmen, steaming workers, etc., but "Some-no-Sato Futaba-en" has all these craftsmen internally, to finish Edo Komon in one continuous operation. Techniques of skillful craftsmen can be observed closely in our atelier.
Unlike formal wear such as visiting wear, Edo Komon is a kind of kimono that expresses a fashionable mind. It is now a representative of kimono called "Sharemono."
It is utilized not only for kimono, but also in various forms such as small articles and interiors as well as in the field of fashion.
