Draping in Time: Noriko Usami and 100 Years of Ramie

When it comes to essential items for ANATOMICA KYOTO, the DOLMAN and ARTHUR jackets, crafted from ramie kasuri fabric, immediately come to mind.

The person who provides us with this ramie kasuri fabric is Noriko Usami, the creator of the brand KI-SIÈCLE.

She takes old kimonos and returns them to a single piece of cloth, reviving them once more as garments, carrying with them the history embedded in the fabric.

This is not merely about making clothes using beautiful fabrics.

It is about the ramie (karamushi) plant—grown with great care over 100 years ago—that was spun into thread by hand, woven, fashioned into a kimono, and has existed through the long passage of time to be here today. By washing, unstitching, touching, and feeling each individual piece, she hands it over to the next hundred years.

We spoke with Ms. Usami about her encounter with ramie, the craftsmanship behind KI-SIÈCLE, and the story that led her to ANATOMICA KYOTO through her connection with Pierre Fournier.

We will be presenting this interview in two parts, first and second.

 

—— What is the appeal of ramie fabric to you?

Creating kasuri textiles is an incredible process that requires immense passion and time.

People in the past spared no effort—what wonderful things they used to create!

I started this brand because I wanted, somehow, for various people to see this beautiful handiwork and this material.

It began with love at first sight at a market at To-ji Temple.

Drawn by its beauty, I began to learn about this antique fabric, the history of hemp, and what are known as "natural textiles."

Every single thing I heard from the elderly men and women selling kimonos was a precious story.

Even now, every time I hold a kimono, wash it, and unstitch the threads, I am filled with gratitude for its beauty.

Perhaps this fabric contains something important that appeals to an ancient bodily sense ingrained in our DNA.

It feels as if I am holding something alive; I feel a warmth that resonates deep within my body.

Cloth handled with such care, the thoughts of our predecessors—this beauty is not just a beauty of form; it moves the heart even more deeply.

The stories passed down through generations in Showa Village about growing ramie before it becomes thread were also very precious.

There is a magnificent story even in the process of becoming thread.

I love the time I spend washing kimonos nearly every day, and I truly always say,

"You are beautiful, too. Where have you come from?"

as I talk to them (laughs).

With mountains of kimonos always at hand, I think, "Should I wash this today and make something out of it?"

That time is pure happiness.

Being surrounded by so much antique fabric is a luxury.

—— How did KI-SIÈCLE begin?

"Wearing time."

KI-SIÈCLE was born out of collecting both Japanese antique fabrics and vintage French clothing.

I carefully wash the old fabrics by hand and spend time unstitching them. I return the kimono to a single piece of cloth.

I believe that putting scissors to a piece of antique fabric that has been returned to its original state is to take on the final chapter of that cloth’s destiny.

While sensing the individuality, scars, and strength of each fabric with my own body, I decide what to create and which combinations to use.

Having collected vintage clothing since I lived in France, I thought about combining 100-year-old Japanese kimono fabric with 100-year-old French workwear.

"KI" refers to a century, the first or second. "SIÈCLE" means the same in French.

What would happen if two things from 100 years ago met 100 years later?

No two fabrics are exactly the same; each one is beautiful and dear to me.

Textiles made with such an unsparing amount of effort and time cannot be reproduced today.

That is exactly why I want them to survive for another hundred years.

With that wish in mind, I tailor each and every garment.

 

—— You are now also working on a method of "creating one garment from one kimono."

The "MINIMAL" series, a coat I am currently most interested in making, all follow the same form.

When you unstitch a kimono, you get pieces like collars and sleeves that are all similar, don't you?

So, I make the sleeves of the new garment from the sleeves of the kimono. I make the collar from the collar.

I try to ensure there is as little of the unstitched kimono left over as possible.

It is a shape created by working backward in that way.

Previously, I would lay fabric onto the shapes of French vintage clothing.

For example, shapes taken from French fishermen’s clothing.

I also used to mix two or three fabrics, but because each kimono is different, it would go well at times, but other times it wouldn't, depending on the transparency or thickness of the material.

So I changed my thinking and began "creating one garment from one kimono."

When you actually wear them, the silhouette of each one is different.

Because the crispness of the fabric varies, the way it drapes also changes completely.

Some pieces with unique patterns can be difficult to combine with others. But once I became able to make one garment from one kimono, I stopped struggling with the combinations.

And above all,

MINIMAL uses a single kimono to its maximum potential, minimizing fabric scraps and allowing you to drape yourself in it with the same feeling as wearing the original kimono.

As for the scraps, I have asked friends to turn them into things other than clothes.

—— When did you start focusing on old Japanese fabrics?

Around 2019, I suppose.

I would become interested every time I found something at a flea market. Whenever I touched a fabric that caught my interest, it was always this one (antique ramie cloth).

In Europe, even among the hemp family, hemp and linen are the mainstream, and this karamushi (ramie) was not present.

It was a fabric produced from a plant species that yields the most delicate thread among the bast fibers.

It was such an amazing cloth.

I encountered this beautiful material—which I had never seen during my 28 years of life in Paris—after returning to Japan, and I became obsessed with it.

Until I met this cloth, I never intended to work on the manufacturing side of things.

I wanted to show my French friends and other designers that Japan has such wonderful fabrics.

That was the beginning of KI-SIÈCLE.

I launched the brand around 2022, and "a little place" became the stage for presenting it.

Continued in the second part