Nagare Haori - Navy

流れ (nagare): "flow, the current of a stream."

In 1212 Kamo no Chōmei, a poet turned Buddhist monk, living in a hut about ten feet square in the hills outside Kyoto, opened his Hōjōki with a river: its flow never stops, and yet the water is never the same water. He had lived through fire, famine and earthquake in the capital, and that current became his picture of how nothing stays. The word he used for it is nagare.

This navy leans toward a deep, clear blue, like river water at dusk. Nothing closes it, so the long edges and wide kimono sleeves hang straight, and the soft rayon shifts and settles each time you turn.

Over a black tee it's the quiet version; over white, as in the photos, it reads a shade brighter. It suits someone with calm clothes and a full bookshelf, so it's an easy gift for a reader. Between this and the black, the dark haori have the cool months covered.

• Fabric: soft, lightweight rayon with a fluid drape
• Front: open, no closures
• Sleeves: full-length wide kimono sleeves
• Fit: long and loose, falls past the hip
• Sizes: S to XXXL, Asian sizing that runs small
• Size reference: 6 ft 2 in, 172 lb wears XL; 5 ft 11 in, 198 lb wears XXL

Measurements for every size are in the size guide.