Material Study: Get to Know the KIM+ONO Collection

At KIM+ONO, we are obsessed with the uniqueness of beauty. There is no cookie cutter definition of what is beautiful, but rather, beauty stems from the unique and special quality of the person, place, or thing. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. We also have an obsession with simplicity. The more we can boil things down to their essence, the more time we get to appreciate them. The simpler we communicate, the more we can understand and be understood. The simpler our surroundings, the clearer our minds. 

With those ideals in mind, beauty and simplicity, we’ve built out a collection of kimono robes that speaks to those ideals. We’ve stitched that love of simplicity and beauty to every material in each of our collections. You may be familiar with our silks, and while we happen to believe every woman (and man!) should have a silk kimono robe in their closet, we know you needed an option that was easy to care for but just as soft and luxurious, so we made Charmeuse and Washable Silk. So today on the journal, we’re keeping it simple and breaking down what makes each of our collections beautiful and unique so you can find a favorite that speaks to you.

Our most extensive collection is absolutely our silks. And for good reason: our co-founders have been deeply inspired by the history of traditional Japanese kimono robes. Japanese kimono were greatly inspired by Han Chinese clothing worn during the Chinese Qing Dynasty. While the influences from both countries influenced different patterns and features, the kimono fabric has been traditionally made of satin weaves or silk. When co-founders and sisters, Tiffany and Renee Tam, traveled to Asia with their parents growing up, they met with local artisans making handcrafted silk products, and fell in love with the fabric. Today, our Silk Collection takes inspiration from their childhood travels coupled with the history of traditional Japanese kimono fabric.

All of our kimono patterns are designed in house in San Francisco by Tiffany and Renee. The sisters and co-founders create the original patterns and then they are handcrafted in China’s Silk Village by the same family of artisans we’ve been partnering with for decades. The designs are sketched by hand, and after the sketch is finalized, the kimono is saturated in rich watercolors using a traditional paintbrush, drawing inspiration for our kimono patterns from traditional Asian aesthetics. Because this is such an intricate process, our Handpainted Kimono Robe Collection is a special one. It’s important to care for your Handpainted Kimono Robe like a piece of wearable art — keeping it out of the washing machine and avoiding any contact with water, which can potentially cause the dyes and designs to bleed. You can see more of the behind the scenes footage of our entire handcrafted process here.

For those who want the luxury of silk without the care necessary for a handpainted design, we offer our Silk Collection. Again the designs are all created in house, sketched by hand and then finalized into a print we can apply seamlessly to this lightweight silk. This collection is incredibly soft and breathable, and has a fluid drape so every inch of you touches this 100% silk fabric. Both the handpainted and printed silks are gorgeously lightweight at 16mm.

Your favorite kimono style may be one you want to bring into your nightly routine, as well as your daywear, and we highly recommend doing so! The difference between our Washable Silk and other silks is the weave of the silk. The Washable Silk Kimono Robe marries our most popular designs with the luxurious washable silk fabric that’s soft and breathable, and just a bit heavier at 22mm. This is compared to our printed and Handpainted Silk Kimono Robes which weigh in at 16mm. Our washable floral kimono cardigans are easier to clean and maintain since you can gently wash them at home. These pieces are at the highest price point in all of our collections as the washable fabric is the most costly part of the silk kimono robe to produce. As always, we suggest placing your kimono robe in a delicates laundering bag like this one before placing into the washing machine to avoid your piece getting snagged on buttons or zippers from other items of clothing. To find out more about how to care for your washable silk kimono robe at home, take a glance at our journal post on how to do just that.

We love the Charmeuse Collection because it makes it easy to bring your kimono robe with you! This collection has a material that is just as soft as silk, but with more durability (at 22mm as opposed to silks’ 16mm) for an easier laundering process. Whether you use your flower kimono robe as a lightweight layer, a cover up, or cardigan, it’s an easy piece to pull from your closet at the start of each day. The easy to care for instructions — just wash in cold water on a delicate cycle and hang to dry — make this a piece you feel happy to wear inside and outside the house. And that makes it even more fun to dress up and take out as a lightweight layer over jeans or as your go-to self care staple at the end of a long day.

 

Update! Since December 2022, all of our fan favorite Kimono Wraps have side seam pockets to combine both function and elegance in one beautifully liquid drape.

 

If you’ve been following us, you know that we have “one size fits most” designs in both our Charmeuse and our Silk Collections, fitting between 43”-48” in chest and hips depending on the style. We’ve also rolled out our Curve Collection with plus size kimono robes that fits up to 55” in chest and hips. The beautiful thing about all of these kimono fabrics is we’ve omitted shoulder seams on every design. That means that they’ll each fall a little bit differently on everyone, depending on the breadth of your shoulders, making each piece as unique as you are. You can find exact measurement details on each product page under ‘SIZING’ to give you the most accurate idea of fit.

 

Care FAQ: Which Kimono Robes Can I Steam?

You can steam all of our kimono robes and wraps, whether they're silk, washable silk, or charmeuse! Steaming can restore moisture and softness while removing wrinkles. Try starting with your steamer held at a slight distance before carefully moving closer. Here's a video showing how we steam our kimono robes with a steamer cover to prevent water from splattering:

 

With each of these collections comes a wish from us to you that you find something absolutely stunning to make you feel like the queen you are, each and every day.