Kim K drops Kimono brand name

In a post on Instagram, Kim Kardashian West announced that she was changing the name of her shape-wear lingerie because she is “always listening, learning and growing…”. From the moment Kimono was announced as the line’s name, there has been instant backlash from the Japanese community and media.

Quickly the hashtag #kimOHno started to trend across social media, with many other communities jumping to defend the cultural importance of kimono’s to Japanese culture and how the use of the name for branding was deeply disrespectful.

This is not the first time the reality-star turned designer has been in the press over cultural appropriation, it’s actually not the second either, Kardashian West has racked up quite a list of cultural blunders over the years.

Kyoto’s kimono-loving mayor even sent an open letter to Kardashian West imploring her to re-think the name of her new brand, “Kimono is a traditional ethnic dress fostered in our rich nature and history with our predecessors’ tireless endeavours and studies, and it is a culture that has been cherished and passed down with care,” he wrote in the letter. Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa, is renowned for wearing a kimono while carrying out official duties. Kadokawa even invited the reality-star to visit Kyoto to “experience the essence of Kimono culture and understand our thoughts and our strong wish.”

Kardashian West continued in the post to say: “When I announced the name of my shapewear line, I did so with the best intentions in mind.”

One Japanese woman, Yuka Ohishi, told the BBC last week: “We wear kimonos to celebrate health, growth of children, engagements, marriages, graduations, at funerals. It’s celebratory wear and passed on in families through the generations.

“[This] shapewear doesn’t even resemble a kimono – she just chose a word that has Kim in it – there’s no respect to what the garment actually means in our culture.”

Kardashian West has not announced the new name of the brand yet.