Nicky Kinnaird, founder of Space NK, has combined Japanese aesthetics and design in the store’s new bath and body collection. Kinnaird, whose carefully edited selection of cosmetics, fragrance, hair and skin care products from around the world has made Space NK a distinctive retail presence, celebrated the beauty of Japanese kimonos with her late summer launch at her Soho New York flagship.
The strict Japanese aesthetic sensibility toward preparation for the bath entails various states of undress, including the shedding of clothing and careful placement of a traditional washcloth to preserve modesty, as well as donning a yukata or kimono after the bath. Kinnaird has taken the theme of the enveloping kimono for her latest products and packaging. Despite variations in size, material and decoration, the kimono shape has remained a square-cut body with square-cut sleeves, differing dramatically from Western cuts that tend to follow the lines of the body. The lack of emphasis on the wearer’s shape shifts the focal point to the surface of the garment itself, revealing it as an artistic canvas. The motifs of the new Space NK collection—which includes such bath and body choices as Laughter, Enrapture, Compelling and Seduction, as well as candles and aromatherapy products for the holidays—feature the origami birds, butterflies and flowers suggestive of artistic kimono variations
The strict Japanese aesthetic sensibility toward preparation for the bath entails various states of undress, including the shedding of clothing and careful placement of a traditional washcloth to preserve modesty, as well as donning a yukata or kimono after the bath. Kinnaird has taken the theme of the enveloping kimono for her latest products and packaging. Despite variations in size, material and decoration, the kimono shape has remained a square-cut body with square-cut sleeves, differing dramatically from Western cuts that tend to follow the lines of the body. The lack of emphasis on the wearer’s shape shifts the focal point to the surface of the garment itself, revealing it as an artistic canvas. The motifs of the new Space NK collection—which includes such bath and body choices as Laughter, Enrapture, Compelling and Seduction, as well as candles and aromatherapy products for the holidays—feature the origami birds, butterflies and flowers suggestive of artistic kimono variations
