Asian arts and textiles expert, Mr. Corentin de Sade, is currently in Dubai for an exclusive workshop with students at ESMOD Dubai, the French Institute fully dedicated to fashion in the Middle East.

From main elements to pattern cutting to the symbolic and characteristic components of a kimono and the use of fiber to create and decorate, the Introduction to Kimono workshop is both comprehensive and fascinating.  

Mr. de Sade has also brought to the region for the first time his famed Japanese kimonos exhibition designed to convey his passion for art and Japanese textile design.

He will be showcasing a selection of 20-25 kimonos from the Meiji and Heisei Era (1868 to 2019) as well as a large set of textile samples, hundreds of old stencils as well as preparatory drawings coming from the workshops of master craftsmen from all over Japan. Techniques, fibers, and rare materials used in the creation of kimonos, such as the Bashofu (banana fiber) or the Minomushi (a rare wild silk, used either raw or in the form of an extremely refined silk marquetry) will all be on display. 

A lifetime dedicated to the study of Asian arts and its influences within the West, as well as the technical means of analysis and modeling of textile works comes alive in this curated exhibition, which is now open to the public at ESMOD Dubai.

His full collection is made up of more than 200 different kimonos, dating from the 16th to the 21st century, with the centerpieces being sumptuous Kabuki, Nō and Kagura theater costumes from the Edo period, as well as important wedding kimonos.  

The exhibition is officially to public all this week from 10am to 6pm, in ESMOD Dubai – Academic City