Women's Magenta Kimono Robe 'Tsutsuji'

Magenta satin fading to pale at the shoulders, with a pagoda scene at the hem

Nobody expects this colour on a kimono, which is the reason to wear it. The ground is a hot magenta satin, and it does something clever as it rises: the pale cloud panels that carry the print grow larger toward the shoulders, so the colour fades from full magenta at the hem to almost pale pink at the collar, keeping the strongest colour away from the face. Inside the clouds, cherry blossom, peonies and gold grasses. At the hem, a pagoda, a grey mountain, and geisha figures in full dress. A white collar edged in gold, and a magenta obi with a gold braided cord.

It is the same scene as the red and navy versions in the collection, and it is a different kimono, because the colour changes the hour. Red is evening. Navy is night. Magenta is the afternoon, in sun, and it photographs like nothing else in the range.

The name, Tsutsuji, is the azalea, the shrub that turns whole hillsides this exact pink in May, and it is the flower Japanese gardens plant when they want a colour that can be seen from the road.

It is printed, not painted, on a polyester satin with a smooth, glossy face and a fluid drape, chosen because a magenta this saturated must stay saturated through washing, and because satin is what gives the fade its glow. It is light, and it moves when you walk.

The obi is included, a matching sash with a braided 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 column that runs from pale at the top to hot at the bottom.

The cut is long, falling to the ankle, with wide kimono sleeves and a wrap front that adjusts at the waist. Tied, it is a dress for an occasion. Open over white, it is the brightest robe you will own.

At three metres it is a pink-to-magenta column with a scene at the bottom. At thirty centimetres the pagoda has its roofs, the geisha have their combs, and the blossom inside the clouds shows every petal. The fade is in the print, so it will not wash out or move.

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.