Fashion: Self-confessed kimono addict Ceri Oldham is in good company

The 50-year-old from Strathaven began importing vintage kimonos from Japan four years ago and they have quickly become her passion.

She started collecting for herself, but found it was "an addiction" with boxes filling every room in her house. She decided to put a cap on said addiction by selling off her collection and turning it into an online business.

She has kept around 20 for herself, but has thousands for sale, all bought at specialist auctions in Japan. In addition to kimonos, she sells obis and accessories, as well as various bits and pieces from Japanese culture — from dolls and dishes to Hello Kitty collectables — both recent and vintage.

She sells to clients as far afield as Australia and even back to Japan. Bought new, the kimonos would cost thousands of pounds, but Oldham's customers can pick one up for between 40 and 300 with average prices of around 68. Her daughter, Astrella, models them for her in her garden and she posts the images on the site, where she also blogs on all things kimono.

"It used to be the case that in Japan, collections of very valuable, beautiful kimonos were handed down through generations of families, but today young Japanese people no longer want to wear them so many are simply sold at auction," she says. "This means people can pick up a kimono of incredible quality and finish at a really great price."

From her online store, Oldham sells kimonos for men, women and even children, with some more than 100 years old. Most, however, date from the 1940s-1980s. They range from simple printed cotton robes to intricate hand-sewn and hand-painted pieces.

"The textile art is just incredible," she says. "You're talking one to two kilogrammes of pure silk, sometimes more, with so much detail, and so much work involved. And the designs vary vastly. You never get tired of looking at them and you rarely see two the same.

"I love that kimonos are so different to the clothes we wear in the west, and I prefer to wear vintage ones, which I know have been worn by a Japanese person in the past, as opposed to being made for tourists."

So opulent and elaborate are they that most of her customers wear them as robes indoors. However, some have bought them to wear for martial arts ceremonies, to display on the walls of their home and even to get married in. And with kimonos getting the celebrity seal of approval (everyone from Dita Von Teese and Sarah Jessica Parker to Janet Jackson and Madonna has sported one) western fans of the eastern garment are getting younger.

Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine wears a furisode kimono in her video for Dog Days (though Oldham notes that she wears it incorrectly – wrapped right over left, not the correct left over right) and Oldham says Paloma Faith's stylist has been in touch.

It's not just women who fall under their spell. "Most of my customers are female, but I do get men who, like me, simply love all things Japanese," says Oldham. "Men's kimonos are more subdued than women's thanks to an old Japanese law which was passed to ensure kimonos for men were never too elaborate so as not to upstage the samurai."

Oldham rarely wears her kimonos outside the house. "They would look a bit too fancy dress I think," she says. "But there's something wonderful about wearing something so beautiful and opulent at home, just for yourself. Try it – you'll become addicted."

Link: www.wafuku.co.uk