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Kimono Roots 
 Wearing Earth and Time

My hand holding wheat seed with emerging roots — © Ileana Rutigliano

Kimono Roots is a kimono made of roots, care, and time. Hand-stitched with sashiko, a Japanese meditative embroidery, it slowly took shape over six months. This living, biodegradable garment is shown in an intimate setting, resisting fast fashion and inviting visitors to witness slowness and care.


Living Kimono

Kimono Roots imagines a world where dressing means cultivating, listening, and slowing down. Where a garment is not consumed but cared for. It began with a question: when was the last time I wore something that could not be replicated? The answer became a living, wearable architecture that resists fast fashion’s speed, replaceability and emotional neutrality.

Roots & Sashiko

Inspired by the kimono’s deep connection to nature, this piece is grown from wheat seed roots, fully biodegradable, and hand-stitched with sashiko, a Japanese meditative embroidery technique. Over six months, the roots grew, dried, and became fiber, making slowness the essence of the material.



Embodied Care

In an intimate setting, visitors are invited to touch, wear, and briefly embody the kimono, witnessing an act of care. They can leave a single word capturing what they felt, experiencing the garment’s connection to time, care, and slowness.

About Studio Ileana

Ileana Rutigliano (b. 1996, Cattolica, Rimini) is an artist and designer working between Italy and the Netherlands. Rooted in a sensorial approach, her practice transforms recycled, alternative, and bio-based matter through an alchemical lens. In response to a society marked by industrial excess, she transmutes discarded materials into living forms that awaken the senses. Her works invite intimate dialogue, bridging object and experience, and call for deeper ecological awareness.

Block of roots fully grown after two weeks — © Ileana Rutigliano

Sashiko embroidery stitching process — © Ileana Rutigliano

Kimono making process – front view — © Ileana Rutigliano

Strijp T+R area, BioArt Laboratories, Oirschotsedijk 14-10 , Map No. A1
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