Eastern fashion has been a great source of inspiration for designers worldwide in all historical periods and throughout all fashion trends, from the times of the East India Companies, from unscrupulous and daring trade along the Silk Road, to the present day. It's the charm of colors skillfully blended and artfully shaded by oriental master dyers, it's the essential and refined illustrations, and finally, it's the marvelous silks. All this is the charm of the East.

Original Androgyny

Unlike Western fashion, which tends to emphasize and enhance the female figure, Eastern fashion focuses more on pure aesthetics and the linearity of forms. The Kimono, in fact, consists essentially of five rectangles of different sizes. One rectangle for the back, two rectangles for the front and neckline, and finally, two rectangles for the sleeves. The form is therefore reduced to its essence. And it is the same for both men's and women's clothing.

It is a message of original androgyny. This concept is also at the heart of the stylistic choices of the greatest master of Made in Italy, King Giorgio, or Giorgio Armani, who with his deconstructed jacket brought forms back to their essence and to equality between male and female fashion. Other great names in global fashion have wanted to challenge the apparent simplicity of the kimono, creating original, sometimes even excessive, collections. Among these is John Galliano, who in the Spring/Summer 2007 haute couture collection for the House of Dior reproduced a version of Madame Butterfly, and then also Gucci, Versace, Etro, and many others.

The 2022 Kimono Collection

The Mela Wedding Kimono Collection also draws from the same Eastern tradition, making forms linear and essential, thus enhancing color in its purest essence.

The Kimono Marea is, in fact, an example of artisanal mastery, fiber art, which blends transparencies and opacity, tone on tone, and lights up with an intense blue.

It was created with antique cottons and with an original artistic technique, intellectual property of the brand.

The Mela Wedding atelier has embraced the apparent simplicity of this garment, aiming to contribute to the aesthetic and experimental research of Italian fashion.

Thanks to Accademia Costume e Moda for their consultation and splendid collaboration in the bibliographical research that allowed me to write this post.