The next morning, after my mandatory Japanese hotel brekkie at Six Senses, we headed to the Tatsumura Textile atelier, which was founded in 1894 and specialises in artistic brocade weaving. Turned out, Monsieur Dior had used Tatsumura brocades for a collection in 1954. That same soun-ji pattern was to be resurrected by Chiuri for the Fall 2025 show, hence why we were allowed to gawp at artisans working the jacquard looms and creating the most intricate of details. Some designs took up to a year just to complete a full banner. I said to Sophia [Neophitou-Apostolou], who was also giddy to be there, that if everyone saw these processes up close, it would prove the true value of high fashion. When you see fingers working the warp and weft of silk threads, the price of the resulting piece or garment seems wholly justified.
By night, Kyoto takes on a cinematic ambiance, exemplified by the welcome dinner at Funatsuru space, which is normally used for wedding banquets. Its Meiji era architecture and interiors, complete with a rickety old lift that traversed its four floors, made for a fun evening of exploring all the nooks and crannies. “What do we attack first? Sushi bar or sake bar?” asked my friend Dawei, who works in Dior’s Paris HQ. Sake, duh! Especially as my partners in crime Bryan Boy and Yoyo Cao had arrived fresh from their flights.
The next morning, some of the group headed to the beautiful Fushimi Inari Shrine at 7am, but I bailed due to an inevitable sake hangover, which was cured by a matcha tasting. After that, we had a kaiseki (multi-course) lunch up at the Kyoyamato restaurant in the area of the Yasaka Pagoda, complete with lush Japanese garden. Gardens, of course, were one of Monsieur Dior’s passions, so it was only right that we saw some exemplary ones on this trip.
The best garden was yet to come as the rain stopped and the skies cleared just as the sun was setting, right in time for the show. I’m a bit bored of talking about weather woes during destination shows so, suffice to say, everything was absolutely fine. LVMH’s rumoured weather shaman came to the rescue as we headed to the historic Tō-ji Temple, where its garden of Sakura trees were still in full bloom and, as night fell, were all magically lit up, with the temple’s foreboding wooden pagoda looming into sight. Cue everybody trying to take the perfect blossom background picture, reminding me of Martin Parr’s latest photo series, which is being showcased in the Kyotographie photography festival (incidentally sponsored by Dior). We can’t help but fall for the allure of those pink fluffy blooms.
AloJapan.com