Hey Doll, Where’d You Get That Kachina Dress?

By Donna Poulton

My-West’s fashion savvy friend, Diane, turned us on to the latest fashion to hit Paris this year. Japanese designer Issey Miyake, who was inspired as a youth by Japanese artist Isamu Inokuma’s paintings and sketches of Kachina Dolls, has created a new line of summer clothing based on those early sketches. 

Credit: isseymiyake.co If you can’t quite afford the 60,900 yen for the ensemble, you can pick up a pin for a mere 6000 yen…go figure.

Credit: isseymiyake.coFor the Hopi, the hand carved Kachina has a number of meanings, the most important being the representation of the spirit life.  Other spirits include: the corn maiden, the cunning wolf, souring eagle, the ceremonial dancer, the singer, the ogre, the buffalo, the badger, the crow, hawk, sun, clouds and rainbow. See HistoryKachinaDoll.com.

Credit: ewebtribeMade from the root of cottonwood trees, other tribes such as the Navajo, zuni, Pueblo and Apache also made Kachina dolls.