Women's Koi Wave Kimono Blouse 'Noborigoi'

A grey koi climbing past the great wave, with a dragon waiting on the shoulder

There is an old story in this print, and the jacket tells it top to bottom. At the hem and around the cuffs, the great wave breaks, drawn in the blues and whites of the famous woodcut, with a small mountain and the long boats under the crest. Up the right side of the back, a large koi leaps clear of the water, scaled in grey and drawn like an ink painting. And on the left shoulder, coiled and waiting, a dragon in the same grey ink. The carp that climbs the waterfall becomes a dragon; that is the legend, and here it is arranged so that the fish is halfway there.

It comes in two grounds. On white, the print is a page from a book, ink and blue on paper. On black, the wave glows and the grey koi and dragon read as smoke on the dark. Both are striking, and the white is the rarer of the two on a street.

The name, Noborigoi, is the climbing carp, the koi flown as a banner over houses in May for the boys inside them, with the wish that they push upstream and turn into something greater. The jacket carries the same wish, with the dragon already on the shoulder.

It is printed, not embroidered, with the wave in flat, hard-edged colour the way a woodblock would print it, and the koi and dragon in a softer grey so they read as brushwork. The cloth is a light polyester with a smooth surface and a soft drape, chosen because two different drawing styles need a ground that keeps them both clean, and because a blouse this light should hang rather than stand. Three-quarter sleeves, open front, no fastening, hem at the hip.

At three metres it is a wave at the bottom and a fish on the back. At thirty centimetres the boats have rowers, the foam has fingers, and the koi has every scale. It is a print for someone who knows the story, and it explains itself to anyone who does not.

The cut is a short open kimono blouse for women, relaxed through the body and easy at the shoulder. Over a white tee with the white version, the outfit is white and blue with a grey fish. Over black with the black version, it is one dark shape with the wave breaking at the hem. It goes with white trousers, black trousers, denim, and plain shoes.

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.