The Toronto Kimono Club was founded in September 2010 by two women with big imaginations and a desire to wear wafuku (Japanese clothing) more often. Both women spent several years living in Japan where they developed their love for kimono and subsequently brought it home with them. 

The club is growing slowly and steadily, and currently has about half a dozen active members. At present, there is no official member roster as there are no membership fees. If you'd like to receive emails on events, please contact us and let us know.

Want to know more about Erica and Kisa?

Erica lived in northern Japan from 2003 to 2006 where she took kitsuke (kimono wearing) lessons under Nakaguki-sensei, a licenced Sodo Kimono Gakuin instructor, for 2.5 years.  She participated in the All-Japan Kitsuke Taikai run by Sodo Kimono in Tokyo in the foreigner's division in 2004 and 2005, where she competed against other foreigners to tie obi and wear kimono in under 7 minutes. She is a moderator at the ImmortalGeisha kimono forums and the LJ kimonoworld community. She helped prompt the formation of the Chicago Kimono Club when living there after making friends in the Japanese community, and wanted to continue that in the Toronto area. Erica also has experience dressing others in kimono and instructing others on wearing kimono, as well as being available as a kimono-clad hostess for events. See this page about the services she provides for more information.  

Kisa lived in Nagoya from 2006 to 2010, where she wore kimono almost weekly for fashion in addition to Koto performances. She has an awareness of modern Nagoya kimono trends and the (sometimes huge) differences in wearing kimono for Koto events compared to fashion. She's versed in seasonality of motifs and loves contemporary kimono fashion.  Kisa is experienced in dressing others, and additionally she offers a section of her collection for rent. See this page about the services she provides for more information.