Yōkai Rebirth Lake Como Collection 2026
Yōkai Rebirth — 記憶をまとう影たち
Inspired by Yōkai — spirits from Japanese folklore.
Yōkai are not merely creatures of fantasy.
They are embodiments of the fears, prayers, and wishes of people who lived in different eras.
The garments of KIWA carry the memories embedded in their fabrics and are reborn as new narratives—where fashion, art, and cultural memory intersect.
Often spoken of as “shadows,” yōkai represent the unseen emotions of humanity: fear, hope, belief, and longing.
By restoring these memories together with the textiles themselves, KIWA transforms them into new garments for the present day.
Yōkai are not simply frightening beings, but manifestations of memory.
In the same way, upcycling is not only the reuse of material.
It is the revival of forgotten memories—kimonos intertwined with human emotion—given new life as contemporary art fashion.
This story resonates beautifully even in Lake Como, a landscape shaped by water and reflection.
Through the intersection of culture, regeneration, and art, the collection speaks clearly to international audiences.
The ten characters of the collection form a narrative arc—
a visual drama woven through rebirth.
Part I
The Birth of Shadows — Fabric as a Vessel of Memory
(Kimono and obi upcycling / the origin of yōkai)
1. Kyūbi (Memory Becoming Spirit) — Obi Upcycled Dress
Fabrics carrying memories unfold into nine seductive tails.
The collection opens with the pulse of awakening life.
2.Karasu Tengu — The Awakening of Wind
A moment of spiritual awakening.
Power, presence, and the shadow of ancient belief.
3.Kappa — Spirit of Water
A yōkai that resonates with water.
A being that moves between nature and humanity.
4. Yuki-onna — Kimono Upcycled Dress
Stillness, transparency, and space.
A quiet closing note to the chapter of shadows.
Part II
Wishes and Stories — Legends Woven by Human Hands
(Art fashion and collaborative works / memory as prayer made visible)
5. Baku & Orihime — The Tanzaku Dress
Participatory Art Fashion
One thousand tanzaku—
an archive of human wishes.
Inspired by the Japanese Tanabata festival, this piece gathers handwritten wishes from people across generations and places.
Each strip of paper carries a prayer, a memory, or a quiet hope.
Layered together, they form a garment that grows through participation—
a living record of human longing.
6. Shuten Dōji — Sake Label Dress
Art Fashion
A garment woven from the stories of land and people.
Constructed from collected Japanese sake labels, this dress embodies the cultural memory embedded in sake brewing traditions—where climate, water, craftsmanship, and community converge.
Each label carries the history of a region and the spirit of those who make and share it.
Together they form a tapestry of Japan’s living culture.
7. Zashiki-warashi — Kimono Upcycled Dress
A spirit believed to bring fortune to the household.
Zashiki-warashi represents hope, warmth, and quiet happiness within everyday life.
In this collection, the figure becomes a symbol of human wishes for prosperity and harmony.
As the emotional center of the chapter, the piece reflects the warmth of human prayers and the enduring desire for happiness.
Part III
Rebirth and Transformation — When Cloth Becomes New Life Craft Techniques × Reconstruction
The most contemporary and fashion-forward chapter of the collection.
In this final section, traditional textiles are dismantled and reconstructed, transforming into new forms of existence.
Through craft techniques and experimentation, the garments move beyond their original function and emerge as living forms of art.
8. Nekomata — Cutwork & Embroidery Fusion Dress
The reconstruction of antique textiles symbolizes rebirth—materials returning to life as something entirely new.
Inspired by the mythical Nekomata, whose two tails signify transformation, this dress expresses the fusion of techniques.
Traditional sakiori weaving and cutwork embroidery intertwine, representing the creature’s dual nature and the convergence of craft traditions.
9. Ittan-momen — Macramé Fusion Dress
In Japanese folklore, Ittan-momen is a strip of cloth said to float through the night sky.
This dress draws inspiration from that image of cloth set free from gravity.
Through macramé techniques, the fabric itself appears to move and transform, as though it has come alive and taken flight.
The garment embodies the moment when cloth transcends its material state and becomes a new form.
10. Nurarihyon — Obi Upcycled Dress
A mysterious and elusive presence—often described as the “master of shadows.”
Nurarihyon appears quietly, as though he has always belonged, embodying ambiguity and authority at once.
Created from reconstructed obi textiles, this dress gathers within it cloth, memory, and spirit, becoming a symbolic figure that encompasses the entire collection.
As the final piece, it stands with quiet dignity, bringing the narrative of the collection to its close.
1. Kyūbi ーMemory Becoming Spirit)
Obi Upcycled Dress
Fabrics imbued with memory transform into nine seductive tails.
The collection opens with the stirring pulse of life.
This bustier dress is created from an orange and gold fukuro obi, paired with a vivid orange haori jacket.
The contrast between the heavy brilliance of the obi and the soft fluidity of the haori symbolizes a presence that embodies both sensuality and sacredness.
The detachable skirt incorporates two antique hanhaba obi decorated with peony motifs, combined with lace elements adorned with floral ornaments.
Nine strands of lace evoke the nine tails of the mythical fox, creating a composition that moves with an almost spiritual presence as the garment sways.
Design Concept — Dakini and the Nine-Tailed Fox
This piece draws inspiration from the mythology and transformation of Dakini-ten, a deity often considered one of the spiritual origins of the Japanese nine-tailed fox.
Dakini originally appears in Hindu tradition as a spirit serving the goddess Kali, believed to feed on human life force.
As the figure was absorbed into Buddhist cosmology, her power was gradually transformed and reinterpreted, eventually becoming associated with protective and benevolent deities.
When Dakini belief reached Japan, it merged with indigenous fox worship and Inari traditions, evolving into a figure embodying paradox—destruction and regeneration, fear and beauty, death and fertility.
Legends also describe the youthful Dakini as possessing an extraordinary beauty and powerful sensual allure.
This duality mirrors the ambivalent nature of the Kyūbi, the nine-tailed fox—both divine and dangerously enchanting.
Materials and Symbolism
Obi (Fukuro obi & Hanahaba obi)
Obi have long absorbed the wishes, memories, and prayers of those who wore them.
In this piece, they are reconstructed as the very body of the yōkai, becoming vessels of accumulated memory.
Peony Motif
A symbol of prosperity, vitality, and flourishing life—hinting at Dakini’s transformation from a terrifying spirit into a benevolent deity.
Nine Strands of Lace
Representing the fox’s nine tails, they also symbolize human desires, fears, and longings.
Their constant movement expresses a presence that can never be fully grasped.
Message
This dress visualizes the transformation of a once-feared being into a figure of blessing across time.
Obi and haori that might otherwise have been discarded are given new life and narrative, reborn as the form of the nine-tailed fox.
In doing so, the work reflects the uniquely Japanese spirit of “mottainai”—the reverence for things that still hold value—and the deeper essence of yōkai culture, where beauty and terror, good and evil, coexist within the same form.
2. Karasu Tengu — The Awakening of Wind
Obi & Haori Upcycled Pants Dress
Spiritual awakening.
Power, presence, and the shadow of ancient belief.
This pants dress is reconstructed from a shimmering obi woven with metallic threads and a velvet haori jacket.
The heavy brilliance of the obi fabric and the deep black texture evoke the imposing presence of Karasu Tengu, a mysterious being said to dwell in the mountains.
From a twisted structure at the high waist, natural gathers emerge and expand into a dramatic pant silhouette.
As the body moves, the garment generates a powerful sense of flowing wind.
Upper Garment — Wearing the Wind
The outer garment is created from a fūtsūsha (double-weave) haori, a traditional textile woven with different colored threads on the front and reverse sides.
In this piece, the outer surface appears black, while the reverse reveals deep red.
As the wearer moves, flashes of red emerge from within the darkness—like hidden anger or spiritual energy briefly revealing itself in silence.
By utilizing the fabric’s unique combination of firmness and translucency, the design allows the cloth itself to express wind, presence, and the outline of an unseen force.
The large puff sleeves hold air within their volume, visually embodying the movement of wind surrounding the body.
Design Concept — The Nature of Tengu
Tengu were once feared as dangerous yōkai.
Over time, particularly from the Edo period onward, they became associated with mountain worship and Shugendō, eventually transforming into protective spiritual figures.
Among them, Karasu Tengu carries a more martial and mystical character.
Often depicted as a mountain ascetic, the figure commands sudden winds, confuses travelers, and yet is also regarded as a guardian capable of warding off misfortune.
This duality—fear and protection, destruction and guardianship—is expressed through the tension between structure and material in the garment.
The Symbolism of Wind
The ha-uchiwa (feather fan), a symbolic tool of the tengu, represents the power to summon wind and take flight.
Rather than depicting the fan directly, this work reconstructs the idea of wind through the garment itself:
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the flowing movement created by the twisted structure
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the air held within the puff sleeves
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the flashes of red emerging from translucent black
Together, these elements become traces of wind, capturing the moment when invisible forces take visible form through clothing.
Message
This Karasu Tengu dress translates the essence of a wind-controlling spirit into the architecture of clothing.
The upcycled obi and haori once carried the prayers, status, and memories of those who wore them.
Reborn within this design, their accumulated history resonates with the liminal nature of the tengu.
The garment becomes a space where nature and humanity, fear and faith, past and present intersect—embodying the deeper spirit of Japan’s yōkai culture.
3. Kappa — Spirit of Water
Obi & Kimono Upcycled Bustier Dress
A yōkai that resonates with water.
A presence that moves between nature and humanity.
This bustier dress with a dramatically open back is constructed from an antique gold fukuro obi woven with chrysanthemum motifs and a deep green hōmongi kimono.
The rich sheen of the obi and the quiet depth of the green fabric evoke the damp stillness of waterside landscapes where unseen beings may dwell.
Layered over the dress is a shawl-like drape composed of three layers of Ueda Tsumugi silk.
Using tapes made from the same textile, three ripple patterns are stitched across the surface, expressing the subtle disturbance of water—an invisible presence passing just beneath its surface.
Design Concept — The Shifting Form of the Kappa
This piece draws inspiration from the evolving image of the kappa, a yōkai whose form and meaning have changed across regions and eras.
In some traditions—particularly in parts of Kyushu—the kappa was believed not only to inhabit rivers but also to possess humans.
Legends tell of the kappa approaching young women with gentle voices, gradually draining their vitality, leaving them weak, delirious, and detached from the world.
Such stories reveal the kappa not merely as a creature of water, but as a liminal presence, existing between the outer world and the inner human psyche.
The open back of this dress visually expresses this boundary—
between human and spirit, land and water, interior and exterior worlds.
Materials and Symbolism
Chrysanthemum Motif Obi
A symbol of vitality, continuity, and renewal.
Though the kappa belongs to the watery realm, it embodies the cycles of life and regeneration.
Deep Green Kimono Fabric
Its color recalls aquatic plants and hidden depths, carrying a quiet allure that draws one toward the unknown.
Ueda Tsumugi Drapes and Ripple Motifs
Ripples signal presence even when the source remains unseen.
They evoke the trembling surface of water after the passage of a hidden being.
Message
This Kappa dress reconstructs an earlier, more ambiguous image of the creature—before its form was fixed by modern folklore.
The upcycled textiles shift like water itself, bringing forgotten memories and ancient fears back into the present.
In doing so, the garment embodies the essence of Japanese yōkai culture:
ambiguity, transformation, and the fluid boundaries between worlds.
4.Yuki-onna — Memory of White
Kimono Upcycled Dress
Stillness, transparency, and space.
A quiet final note that settles the chapter of shadows.
In Japanese folklore, Yuki-onna appears on snowy nights, descending silently from the sky.
White breath, frozen silence, and a presence so delicate it seems it might vanish at a touch—
she embodies the fragile beauty of winter itself.
This dress is a two-piece ensemble composed of a bustier and skirt constructed from a white obi and an uchikake bridal kimono.
From the back flows a long train made by layering kimono fabric with translucent organza, evoking snow falling to the earth and drifting through the wind.
By combining the weight of traditional textiles such as obi and uchikake with the airy transparency of sheer fabrics, the design creates a tension between heaviness and lightness, stillness and movement.
This contrast reflects the dual nature of snow—quietly accumulating, yet constantly reshaped by the wind.
At the neckline, delicate embroidery of snow crystals appears.
No two crystals share the same form, symbolizing the fleeting beauty of a single moment and the irretrievable passage of time.
This work gathers the opposing qualities embodied by the Yuki-onna—
coldness and beauty, silence and motion—into a single garment.
It is a dress that carries the quiet presence of snow:
a fragile yet dignified memory of white.
５．Baku & Orihime — Tanzaku Dress
1,000 wishes woven into one garment.
This work is a participatory art-fashion piece created from a vintage furisode kimono that had completed its original role. Onto the garment, countless tanzaku wish strips are carefully sewn, transforming individual hopes into a collective form.
Inspired by the Japanese seasonal tradition of Tanabata, the dress was conceived to visualize wishes and to connect society, culture, and generations through a shared act of writing and offering hope.
The Dress Body — A Body that Wears Dreams
The base of the dress is made from a deep indigo furisode kimono depicting bamboo, seasonal flowers, and a Heian-period princess.
Its gradation of blues evokes the night sky — a space between dream and reality.
Within this symbolic space dwell two figures:
Baku, the mythical creature said to devour nightmares, and
Orihime, the celestial weaver who connects heaven and earth.
The flowing motifs across the garment weave together personal memories, historical prayers, and the temporal layers of Japanese culture into a single piece.
Tanzaku — A Structure Where Wishes Grow
The most distinctive feature of this dress is the multitude of handwritten tanzaku.
Each strip carries a wish written by a participant.
The materials used are sustainable papers created in collaboration with Japanese companies, artisans, and local communities. Materials once destined for disposal are given new meaning and a renewed role within the artwork.
Tanzaku Creation | Wishes written by children from Playroom Yuzuriha (NPO)
Tanzaku Materials
Ogawa Washi Offcuts (provided by Takano Paper Mill)
Ogawa Washi has a history spanning over 1,300 years.
Five colors of paper offcuts produced during cutting processes add quiet hues to the dress.
Kozo Fiber Washi
Traditional Japanese paper incorporating fibers and materials that would otherwise be discarded.
Cafetex (provided by Yamato Washi Company)
An innovative paper yarn made from 100% recycled paper. Developed over approximately eighteen months using by-products from coffee filter manufacturing.
Peace Orihime Paper (Hiroshima)
Paper made from recycled origami cranes offered to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Fragments of the cranes remain visible, symbolizing prayers for peace taking flight.
A Work that Continues to Grow
So far, approximately 500 tanzaku wishes have been sewn into the dress.
Through exhibitions both in Japan and abroad, visitors have been invited to write their wishes and add them to the work. In this way, the piece continues to grow through human participation.
In 2025, the dress was exhibited at the showcase of the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Vancouver, Canada, where visitors wrote and attached their wishes directly to the garment.
The work will reach its symbolic completion through a collaborative creation with high school students.
Completion here does not signify an end, but rather a moment when countless wishes gather within a single garment and are entrusted to the next generation.
Message
This Tanzaku Dress is fashion, art, and a dialogue with society.
A wish alone may be small,
but when many gather, they become fabric, form, and a presence that embraces the future.
Baku devours nightmares.
Orihime connects hearts across the heavens.
This dress exists to wear the wishes of people.
6. Shuten Dōji — The Sake Label Dress
A resonance of land, history, and human craft worn as fabric.
This work is an art-fashion piece created by reconstructing Japanese sake labels collected from breweries across Japan into a single dress. Both sake and kimono are embodiments of Japanese memory—formed by water, climate, human hands, and the passage of time.
Material — When Labels Become Fabric
The dress incorporates approximately 600 sake labels from 63 varieties across 20 breweries throughout Japan.
Each label was carefully cut and reassembled, transforming into a rippling “label textile.”
Within every label lies the identity of its place: the local water, rice, climate, and the philosophy of the brewers. When layered together, they form what can be seen as a contemporary pattern reflecting the cultural landscapes and waters of Japan.
Form — A Fermenting Dress
The sweeping undulations across the garment evoke the flow of rivers, the circulation of water used in sake brewing, and the invisible passage of time within fermentation.
As the label fabric moves, overlaps, and reflects light, it expresses the way culture itself continues to transform—never fixed, yet continuously inherited.
The Presence of Shuten Dōji
Shuten Dōji is known as one of the three great yokai of Japan.
A legendary figure who loved sake and lived in revelry, embodying both fear and fascination—destruction and celebration.
In this work, the sake label—symbolic “faces” of Japanese sake—are assembled together to reinterpret Shuten Dōji not merely as a monster, but as a symbolic presence reflecting the vitality of land and human endeavor.
Wearing Memory
Behind every woven pattern, label design, and sake name lies the history, daily life, and aesthetic sensibility of the people who lived in that place.
Through the resonance between sake and kimono, this dress embodies a circulating memory of Japan—where the culture of drinking and the culture of wearing intersect.
Message
A label is not something to discard.
It is a fragment of a place’s story—a shard of memory woven by water and human hands.
Shuten Dōji gathers these memories, drinks them in, and rises again in celebration.
This dress is a garment that allows the body to wear the circulating beauty of Japan itself.
7. Zashiki-warashi
Upcycled Kimono Dress
A presence that brings fortune—an embodiment of human hope and good luck.
Zashiki-warashi are household spirits said to reside in the storage rooms of traditional Japanese homes, quietly bringing prosperity and happiness to the families who live there.
They inhabit spaces where human presence and memories accumulate—places that feel alive, though nothing can be seen.
This dress was created by reflecting that invisible presence within the spatial structure of traditional Japanese architecture.
The Spirit of Space
Elements such as ranma transoms and lattice sliding doors were originally designed for practical purposes—allowing light and air to move through the house.
Over time, these architectural features evolved beyond functionality, gaining decorative and artistic significance. Space itself—the gaps and intervals within the structure—became meaningful.
This dress draws inspiration from the quiet presence that resides within such spaces.
Technique — Stitching the Space Between
The open structures within the garment are created using fagoting (drawn-thread embroidery).
Strips of haori fabric were carefully torn and transformed into kimono yarn, which was then used to stitch between separate pieces of cloth. The spaces between them are intentionally left open, allowing the garment to remain connected while preserving the “in-between.”
Rather than closing the fabric completely, the construction allows presence to pass through—like a quiet breath moving through a room.
Materials
Two traditional obi belts were used:
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a woven gold and vermilion obi
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a woven gold and black obi
Layered together, these colors evoke the warm tones of traditional Japanese interiors. Within the stillness of the garment, they create a gentle sense of presence.
Message
Something is there, though its form is uncertain.
Like the Zashiki-warashi itself, this dress quietly stands as a symbol of fortune and memory dwelling within space.
8. Nekomata — Cutwork & Embroidery Fusion Dress
The reconstruction of antique textiles becomes a symbol of rebirth—materials returning to life in a new form.
Inspired by the mythical Nekomata, a supernatural cat known for its two tails, this dress expresses transformation through the fusion of techniques.
The garment is reconstructed from a vibrant orange furisode kimono adorned with floral motifs, paired with a floral-patterned 24-karat gold obi. These elements are reshaped into an escargot-line silhouette, spiraling elegantly along the body.
Technique — Fusion of Craft
The obi was carefully cut following its original motifs and reconstructed using cutwork embroidery techniques.
Through this process, the patterns emerge again as dimensional floral forms integrated into the dress itself. The technique transforms flat decorative elements into sculptural expressions.
Form and Movement
The silhouette traces a gentle spiral along the body, while tulle peeks out from the asymmetrical hem, leaving a light and playful impression with every movement.
The color palette—orange, gold, and green, reminiscent of a calico cat—reflects the dual nature of the Nekomata: charming yet mysterious.
Symbolism
The celebratory gold accents layered with deep, rich colors embody the Nekomata’s nature as a creature of transformation, playfulness, and supernatural ambiguity.
A large ribbon tied at the back symbolizes the Nekomata’s two divided tails, a defining mark of the creature.
By applying cutting and reconstruction to a formal furisode and obi, this piece reimagines the Nekomata as a being that exists on the boundary between the human and supernatural worlds.
Message
This dress embodies the Nekomata as a creature of the threshold—where transformation and rebirth meet charm and mystique.
Through the rebirth of traditional textiles, the garment gives form to a presence that stands between past and present, human and spirit.
9,Ittan-momen — Macramé Fusion Dress
Cloth itself takes flight, transforming into a new form of life.
In Japanese folklore, Ittan-momen is a yokai that appears as a long strip of cloth gliding across the night sky, said to drift through the air and entwine itself around those it encounters.
Carried by the wind, it floats lightly, slipping and changing shape the more one tries to grasp it.
This work was born from the idea that cloth itself can live.
Three kimono were cut into long strips and transformed into cord-like threads.
By weaving and knotting them together through macramé techniques, a single piece of fabric is reborn as a moving, breathing presence.
Cutting the cloth is not an ending, but the beginning of a new structure and motion.
Form and Movement
The outer layer, constructed as a macramé-knit set-up dress, captures air and responds to the movement of the body. It sways, loosens, and overlaps with every step.
The result evokes the elusive presence of Ittan-momen—light, fluid, and impossible to fully grasp, as if drifting through the night sky.
Inner Layer
The inner garment is a camisole dress made from two traditional kimono textiles:
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a black habutae silk kimono
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a black meisen kimono woven with subtle red floral motifs
Within the quiet depth of black, the faint emergence of red suggests a hidden presence—an undercurrent of narrative and energy residing within the fabric.
Message
This dress stands at the boundary where cloth becomes yokai, and yokai becomes clothing.
Through the acts of unraveling, knotting, and wearing again, Ittan-momen gains new life upon the contemporary body.
The fabric, once still, takes flight again.
10,Nurarihyon — Obi Upcycled Dress
An elusive presence—the quiet master of shadows.
This set-up ensemble reinterprets Nurarihyon, often described as the supreme leader of yokai, as a figure that embodies both dignity and refinement.
In Edo-period picture scrolls, Nurarihyon is not portrayed as terrifying, but rather as a presence with composure, elegance, and an almost effortless authority.
This work translates that image into the structure of modern formal wear—a classic jacket, corset, and trousers.
The obi textiles woven with gold threads and the refined motifs of Kōrin Hyakunin Isshu create an expression of quiet grandeur. Together they form a silhouette that carries the presence of a leader among spirits—calm, composed, and subtly commanding.
The Nurarihyon Set-up emerges at the intersection of yokai, authority, and the formal language of clothing.
It is a garment that embodies presence and power in contemporary form.
Jacket & Corset
Constructed from obi fabric woven with gold thread.
The textile features the continuous motif of Kōrin Hyakunin Isshu, creating a luxurious surface that remains both structured and lightweight.
The design balances formality and mobility, allowing elegance and movement to coexist.
Trousers
The trousers are reconstructed from a furisode kimono made of deep indigo rinzu silk, adorned with subtle cherry blossom motifs.
The quiet blossoms emerging from the dark ground introduce a gentle radiance within the garment’s dignified presence—suggesting a calm yet unmistakable aura.
Message
Nurarihyon appears quietly, as though he has always belonged.
Neither fully seen nor fully grasped, he inhabits the boundary between presence and shadow.
As the final piece of the collection, this garment gathers within it cloth, memory, and spirit, standing as a composed and dignified conclusion to the world of yokai.