"Oshima Diamonds" Woman's Kimono

This is a woman's vintage casual kimono.

The beautiful dark brown background was created with a mud dye called dorozome, or oshima. See below for more info and a video.

A finely woven design of diamonds filled with florals in gray, red, and yellow. The pattern was woven with the ikat technique.

Oshima silk refers to the iron-rich mud used to dye the threads brown and is said to strengthen the fibers so the kimono will last a long time. This technique, unfortunately, is now done only on a few islands in the southern part of Japan.

Ikat (also called kasuri) is a centuries-old method of weaving where the threads are dyed before being woven, so that the design appears on the loom. Ikat is a very labor-intensive textile art form, still very much revered in Japan and elsewhere. See the amazing process in the video below.