Gold Peacock Kimono Robe 'Ogon'

The pagoda scene on gold satin that catches every light in the room

Gold satin does something no other ground does: it moves. Every fold of this kimono catches light and gives it back, so the cloth changes as you walk, and the pagoda scene printed across it, the cream cloud panels of blossom, the geisha figures at the hem, the grey mountain and the gold grasses, seems to sit on a surface that is never still. A white collar. A gold obi, with a braided red cord wrapped over it, the one hot colour on the garment and the thing that pulls the eye to the waist.

It is the version of the scene for a room with lights in it. Red is for the evening and navy for the night; gold is for the party, and it is the most reflective piece in the collection by some distance.

The name, Ogon, simply means gold, the metal, the colour of the folding screens the scene was painted on before it was printed on cloth.

It is printed, not painted, on a polyester satin with a smooth, glossy face and a fluid drape, chosen because gold is a colour that only works with shine, and because the print needs a ground that keeps its many colours through washing. It is light and it moves, which on this ground is the point.

The obi is included, a matching sash with the red cord that wraps twice and ties at the back. Cross the fronts left over right, tie the obi, and the kimono closes into a long gold column with the red cord as its one line and the scene running down it.

The cut is long, falling to the ankle, with wide kimono sleeves and a wrap front that adjusts at the waist. Tied, it is an entrance. Open over black, it is a robe that lights the room it is in, and it should be worn where there are lights to catch.

At three metres it is gold, moving. At thirty centimetres the scene appears, the geisha at the hem, the pagoda, the blossom inside the pale clouds, and the red cord at the waist shows its braid. The gold is the ground, not the picture, and it is the reason to choose this version.

It comes in one size, cut long with a generous wrap. It is Asian sizing, so it sits closer than a Western one-size; the wrap and the obi give the room, and set the waist where you want it.