Like traditional Kyoto merchants, Nana and Roger Sullivan sometimes serve their customers Japanese-style in their new shop, Toshiro, at 3309 N. Clark St.
While customers relax on antique benches, the Sullivans sit cross-legged on a raised platform covered with tatami mats, serving green tea in ceramic cups and displaying their wares--vintage Japanese clothing for men and women. The garments are surprisingly versatile and modern.
``When you mention Japanese clothing, most people think of the very bright, flowery silk kimono with sleeves that drag on the ground and very complicated sashes,`` Nana says.
``But the cotton kimono and other garments that we have were cut on a much more practical level. They`re shorter, the sleeves are more of a dolman sleeve and they can be worn straight as well as with a sash.``
The Sullivans sell clothing that was worn by Japanese peasant farmers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with a few pieces dating further back. USEFUL WORKS OF ART
Though the clothes were utilitarian, they seem like works of art. They were meticulously fashioned from sturdy cotton and linen that was dyed and woven to intricate perfection. Some garments have linings so beautiful that they can be worn inside out.
The colors are rich earth tones seasoned with the patina of age: more shades of indigo than one could ever imagine from midnight to pale blue, forest and olive green, gray, brown and black with accents of camel, mustard, turquoise, pink, orange, burgundy, purple and white.
The patterns, ranging from stripes and geometrics to butterflies, flourished during the Tokugawa period in Japan when the Shogun, or lord of lords, decreed that only samurai and members of the court could wear silks and bright colors.
The farmers were so restricted that they channeled their creativity into developing elaborate dying techniques.
Kasuri, well-represented in Toshiro`s stock, was one technique that involved tying string around bundles of cotton thread in predetermined patterns to create a dye resist. The bundles were dipped in dye up to 40 times, then handwoven very precisely on the loom.
The seeds of Toshiro, which opened in November, were sown in 1982 when Nana Sullivan, then a student of Japanese history at the University of Chicago, visited Japan to research her B.A. thesis on the daily life of a female farmer.
She lived with a Japanese farm family and became entranced with the pants, called monpe, that they wore. The loose-fitting pants with wrap-around ties often are split on the sides from the waist to midthigh, revealing the complementary pattern of a thin cotton kimono or other top that`s tucked in.
When Nana returned to Chicago and showed the monpe to Roger, then her fiance, he spotted their potential appeal to Westerners and suggested building a business around the clothing.
Besides monpe, there is a wide array of lined and unlined cotton kimonos, hippari (kimonolike short jackets), hanten (long jackets), obi (sashes) and vests, including versions for children that are made to be let out to allow for growth. Monpe start at about $35.
CLOTHES MADE TO LAST
The garments are in excellent condition, either well-preserved or lovingly restored by the Sullivans` two Asian seamstresses, who replace collars or cuffs that can`t be salvaged or turn others to conceal frayed edges.
``They`re not fragile,`` Nana says. ``They were made to last. They`re strong and sturdy cottons with the designs woven into the fabric. Nothing is printed.``
The couple established a network of contacts in Japan and collected the vintage clothing for a few years, once testing their appeal by holding a yard sale. People snapped them up quickly. They also sold at art fairs and through small galleries and shops until a ``rapid expansion`` ensued and their shop was born.
They turned a former photography studio into a peaceful oasis reminiscent of both a traditional Kyoto shop and a Japanese farm house with dark fir floors and shelves, a raised platform with a (nonworking) fire pit in its center and a big bay window.
Its name, Toshiro, is borrowed from that of the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. What Marcello Mastroianni is to Federico Fellini, Toshiro Mifune is to Akira Kurosawa (``Ran,`` ``Rashomon,`` ``The Seven Samurai``). The Sullivans are fans.
And, as a matter of fact, Nana notes, forebears of monpe, a kind of undergarment, can be seen on the samurai in the Oscar-nominated ``Ran.``
The Sullivans hope to establish a strong identity in the Chicago area for this type of vintage Japanese clothing and for other things Japanese as they gradually diversify.
It`s a necessity. The international demand for the limited supply of the vintage clothing is intense and has driven up prices, along with the yen`s strong performance against the dollar.
Unlined kimonos cost less than $110, while lined versions, which some women have been using as spring coats, range from $140 to $250.
The Sullivans carry a few garments by young Chicago designers now working in compatible modes, and plan to have designs from Issey Miyake`s Plantation line next fall.
The response, they say, has been gratifying.
``We get people interested in art and architecture,`` Roger says,
``people interested in textiles and weaving, then we have adventurous, far-out people, actors, musicians looking for something unusual to wear onstage.`` Adds Nana: ``We even had a woman who works in an Oak Street boutique who later told all her friends that she hadn`t seen clothes that excited her in so long.`` --