Reviving Boro

From ‘shameful’ utilitarian garments to contemporary, trans­cultural fashion trend: like wabi-sabi and kintsugi before it, boro has gained worldwide recognition as a quintessential Japanese aesthetic and sustainable design practice. How has this cross-cultural reimagining shaped boro’s meaning in art and fashion? And what are we doing when we make, collect, display and wear boro today?

As boro’s functional value has decreased in the contemporary context, it has acquired new layers of meaning: from antique object to vintage fashion style, sustainable design practice to contemporary art piece. Reviving Boro investigates this revival using primary materials, including a wealth of unpublished images, oral histories and archival research.

Leren Li conducts a thorough examination of the process of value generation, reviewing personal and museum boro collections, emerging boro brands, and recent boro initiatives undertaken by independent fashion innovators. Investigating boro as a revived cultural phenomenon, this is a critical resource for readers wanting to understand the past, present and future of this traditional Japanese textile.