Taking kimono silk to the next fashion level

Japanese startup aims at international market for luxury clothing

Fashion startup Arlnata uses silk kimono fabrics for its ready-to-wear clothing, most of which is Western-style. Based in Japan, the brand presented its first collection in April 2019. (Courtesy of Arlnata)

CYBIL CHOU, Contributing writer

August 25, 2021 08:00 JST

TAIPEI -- For more than a decade, Japanese fashion designer Shunsuke Teranishi worked in Tokyo, Milan and Paris for leading Japanese and European apparel brands. But his career took a dramatic turn in 2016, when he was introduced to the fascinating world of ushikubi tsumugi (cow's neck silk), an exquisite variety of kimono fabric shown at a textile and fashion exhibition in Paris.