Women's Crane Whirlpool Kimono Top 'Kirisame'

Cranes wheeling over a grey whirlpool, blossom at the shoulders, on black

The water on this piece is grey, and that is the unexpected part. Where most crane prints put the birds over blue or gold, this one sends them wheeling above a swirl of smoky grey water that spirals across the lower back like a whirlpool seen from a bridge. The cranes are white with black wingtips and blue and red on the crown, drawn mid-turn, a flock of them across the back and more on the front. At the shoulders, sprays of red and pink blossom, and across the black ground between them, a fine scatter of gold.

The contrast is what gives it energy: bright birds, moody water, dark sky. It is the stormiest of the women's crane pieces, the one for an evening with weather in it, and the grey keeps it from being pretty, which is a compliment.

The name, Kirisame, is drizzle, the fine rain that hangs in the air rather than falls, and it names the mood of the water at the hem: grey, soft, moving.

The cloth is a light polyester with a smooth surface and a soft drape, chosen because the grey water needs a smooth ground to keep its depth, and because a light top should float. Three-quarter sleeves, open front, no fastening, hem at the hip.

The cut is a short open kimono top for women, relaxed through the body and easy at the shoulder. Over a white tee, the white column runs up through the cranes and the front reads bright. Over black, the top and the tee become one dark shape and the birds fly across it, which is the look after dark. It goes with black trousers, dark denim, and grey if you want to echo the water.

Wear it when you want cranes without the sun and the sakura doing all the talking. This one has its own weather.

At thirty centimetres the water is drawn in fine spiralling lines, grey on grey, with white foam where it turns. At three metres it is a soft cloud at the hem with birds above it. The blossom at the shoulders is the only warm colour on the piece, and it sits where a glance lands first.

It comes in one size, cut to drape with an easy fit. It is Asian sizing, so it sits closer than a Western one-size; if you are usually L or above, expect it to fit close rather than loose.