The polar opposite of fast fashion, traditional kimonos and obis are meant to last a lifetime. "A lot of man hours go into creating these garments - many are hand-embroidered or hand-painted," says Kazumi Nakanishi, a Japanese expatriate living in Hong Kong."However, most of them sit in people's armoires for years without seeing daylight." A lover of traditional textiles, Nakanishi wanted to give those gorgeous items a 21st-century spin, and one day, she asked her mother, a skilled seamstress, to make a handbag out of a vintage obi. A business was born, and Nakanishi now designs a line of glamorous clutches fashioned out of old kimonos and obis. Coming soon is made-to-order service available online.
