Kanzashi Hat

Kanzashi (簪) - Hair Ornament

The kanzashi hat is made up of 25 tsumami kanzashi fabric flowers, 126 handsewn petals. This hat provides a modern take on the traditional hair ornament. It is hand dyed deadstock cotton with organic indigo powder and is zero waste by design. The wooden beads have been sourced from a certified ethical origin, using wood from naturally fallen branches.

The important measurement for the Kanzashi Hat is your head circumference at the point/ angle a hat sits. S/M: 54-56cm. M/L: Coming soon. 

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.