Digital Kimonos Draw Modern Crowd

Digital Kimonos Draw Modern Crowd
Kimono designer Yuko Iwakuma uses a computer and an ink jet printer to make kimonos with brash new designs which she then sells over the Internet.

Her 'digital kimonos', which she began selling last December, go far beyond the flower and bird designs of tradition, abounding with keyboards, playing-card kings and queens, puppies and apples.

She sold more than 100 kimonos and lighter-weight yukata robes in August alone, an impressive figure considering that the elaborate clothes are worn today only at weddings and special occasions.

Making a killing in the traditional kimono business is not easy.

The market has dropped from 2 trillion yen (S$31 billion) at its peak in the 1980s to a mere 630 billion yen in 2001, according to an industry association.

Producing kimonos the traditional way is labour intensive and time-consuming.

Computerised manufacturing cuts costs and lets people like Ms Iwakuma custom make kimonos for the price of a nice suit, while selling through the Internet avoids Japan's cumbersome - and expensive - distribution system to retail shops.

Digital design and ink-jet printing also allow kimono makers to avoid excess inventory and relieve growing concerns about a shortage of skilled hand-dyers.

Ms Iwakuma uses an Apple computer to design her kimonos and sashes.

She says the motifs attract women in their 30s who seek inexpens