- EDUCATION -

Ragdoll Ronin draws almost exclusively from all things Japan, Japanese culture, samurai films and video games. For some who are viewing this project, the art for Ragdoll Ronin may be the main drawing point. For others who might want to dive a bit deeper, we wanted to use this space as an education, inspiration and application overview as to what went into bringing this project to life.

Before we get into the details of Ragdoll Ronin, we need a quick overview of some terminology on a few facets of Japanese culture and fashion that apply directly to the project. Here, we give a very brief education on some of the art, techniques, fabrics and clothing styles that were traditionally used in Japanese culture and how all of these things inspired the look and feel of Ragdoll Ronin.

There is an immense amount of material to draw from in Japanese culture and we hope you find this section as educational and inspirational as we did while researching during the process of putting the project together. Our goal was to bring this project to life as authentically as possible, while still retaining some creative license, and we feel the final product is quite successful in doing so.

Boro:

Boro (ぼろ) are a class of Japanese textiles that have been mended or patched together. Meaning “ragged” or “tattered”. Boro are patchwork textiles hand-pieced by peasants in Japan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was done by overlapping and stitching spare or discharged scraps of fabric together, using a sashiko stitch, to reinforce the material. The inability to cultivate cotton in the climate of northern Japan necessitated the practice of stitching remnants of used fabric into utilitarian items. Boro fabrics were typically indigo-dyed as it was the cheapest natural dye available. Boro will play an extremely important role in the evolution and transformation of your Ronin over time…

Sashiko Stitching:

Sashiko (刺し子, lit. "little stabs") is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing. Sashiko and Boro are both intertwined in history but not interchangeable. Sashiko refers to the style of embroidery, whereas the word Boro meaning rags or tattered cloth and indicates the textiles used rather than how they are put together.

Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints:

Ukiyo-e, or “pictures of the floating world,” were a style of woodblock print that captured the exciting urban popular culture of the Edo period (1603-1868), promoting its beauty, landscapes, fashions and heroes. All backgrounds for Ragdoll Ronin are based on and have the distinct feel of authentic Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

Shibori Dyeing:

Shibori is a Japanese dyeing technique that involves folding, bunching, or bundling fabric, binding it with a resist, and dyeing it with indigo dye. The results are patterned blue lines that are both geometric and organic. There are various Shibori dyed fabrics available for your Ronin in the way of base body fabrics and clothing assets.

INDIGO DYEING:

In Japan, indigo dye is known as AI-ZOME and was very popular during the Edo Period (1600-1868). The dye can actually be extracted from a variety of plants and is a very strong dyeing process. The deep blue color fades slowly or not at all from porous fabrics such as cotton. All of the base body fabrics for Ragdoll Ronin start off as an indigo dyed fabric. The addition of boro and sashiko stitching will alter your ronin’s appearance over time.