Traditional Wrap : Anne Namba Gives Women Updated Kimono Couture
Kimonos have always been revered in places far away from their native Japan. Exquisitely embroidered ceremonial versions are hung, like artwork, in living rooms around the world. Mass-produced versions are cherished as glamorous house robes. And vintage ones, their delicate fabric shredding with age, are taken apart and reconstructed into pillows or pendants.
One designer who has maximized the intrinsic beauty of these traditional robes is Anne Namba. She uses high-quality fabrics to redefine kimonos into silhouettes for the modern woman. For the last six years, her “kimono couture”-- haute suits, dresses and evening gowns--has caught the attention of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who owns two Namba designs.
The Honolulu-based designer also can count many admirers among the more than 700 supporters at Saturday’s fund-raising luncheon for the Medellas at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. The event’s mistress of ceremonies, news anchor Tritia Toyota, was among those who praised her.
The Pan-Asian women’s organization of dentists, physicians and lawyers or professionals’ wives attended the event to benefit the group’s endowment fund for Asian art exhibitions at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art.
Namba’s aesthetic for designs--from the empress cut jacket to a cropped palazzo--reflects her experiences living in Bangkok, Tehran, Los Angeles, New York City and other international cities. Even her mostly black-based line has a sophisticated, cosmopolitan sensibility.
The florals, landscapes, animals and Japanese symbols splashed on the cloth give Namba’s clothes a timeless essence.
San Francisco artist Pat Au-Young Tseng accessorized the clothes with her exquisite necklaces. Tseng fits antique jade, ivory, glass and other materials into simple arrangements that are as much a work of art as they are functional.
The fashion show was preceded by performances of classical Japanese dance and Taiko drummers, and afterward, guests poured into an adjoining room for a trunk show.
