Woman’s Kimono, 1920s–30s (late Taishō–early Shōwa periods). Machine-spun silk plain weave with stencil-printed warp and weft threads (meisen). 61.25 x 43.25 inches (155.5 x 110 cm). The Montgomery Collection, Lugano, Switzerland

PHILADELPHIA.- The Japanese kimono is celebrated worldwide for its elegant, distinctive silhouette. Though quintessentially Japanese, the kimono form has influenced fashion designers around the globe.

This exhibition features approximately 90 kimono created in the early to mid-twentieth centuries, one of the most dynamic periods in the history of Japan's national costume. It includes formal, semi-formal, and casual kimono, haori jackets, and under-kimono (juban) worn by men, women, and children. Some of these garments reflect historical continuity in designs and techniques, while many others illustrate a dramatic break with aspects of kimono tradition, as themes and designs from Western art began to predominate over historical Japanese references.

The exhibition begins by focusing on the early twentieth century, the final era of the "living" kimono, that is, when kimono still remained the dress of choice, worn daily by the majority of people in Japan; it continues through the 1940s, when Western clothes had replaced the kimono for everyday wear and the kimono assumed a largely formal and ceremonial meaning.

The outstanding garments in the exhibition, drawn from the internationally renowned Montgomery Collection of Lugano, Switzerland, have never before been exhibited in North America.