Kanzashi (簪) - Hair Ornament
The kanzashi hair tie is made of tsumami kanzashi fabric flowers and handsewn petals. It is hand dyed deadstock cotton with organic indigo powder and is zero waste by design.
In Japanese culture, when one turns 20 years old, they participate in a Coming of Age Ceremony (seijinshiki). For women, part of this ceremony is to dress in a Furisode style Kimono with traditional hair accessories (kanzashi). When I celebrated my seijinshiki, I was given a box of traditional hair ornaments (kanzashi) to choose from, one being a tsumami hana kanzashi (pinched flower hair ornament). I admired this kanzashi's beauty as an accessory and as a representation of my culture. I would have liked to continue wearing it, however, could not see it fitting in with my current style/ wardrobe. This sparked the recreation of this hair ornament in a modern context. It prompts conversation about the evolving nature of cultural design and tradition.
Tsumami Kanzashi (簪) flowers are traditionally made with silk and starch/ rice glue on a base. Traditionally, they are worn with consideration of the motifs that reflect the current season. In my interpretation, I have created a simple and seasonless 5 petal tsumami hana as the base flower. To accommodate the practical needs of a hat (i.e. flexibility, durability and comfort), the flowers are not constructed using the traditional method but rather sewing with thread.