Willow Whisper Hoodie

柳の囁き (yanagi no sasayaki): "the whisper of the willow."

Kyoto still has five hanamachi, or flower towns, where geiko and their apprentices, maiko, train for years in dance and music. Geiko is the Kyoto word; elsewhere it's geisha, which means a person of the arts. Willows lean over the Shirakawa canal in Gion, the best known of the five, and the tree has belonged to this world for centuries: Japanese still call it karyūkai, the world of flowers and willows.

A geisha in a teal kimono patterned with cranes and moons stands under a willow on the back, a rust obi at her waist. The tags read 柳の囁き (yanagi no sasayaki), the name, and 花街の影 (hanamachi no kage), "shadow of the flower town," beside a red seal, 静 (sei), "stillness." The chest says 静の美 (sei no bi), "the beauty of stillness."

The figure is calm and the black is deep, so it sits easily at a gallery opening or on a long train ride. It suits anyone who has walked the stone lanes of Gion after dark. Something louder lives on the hoodie shelf.

• Fabric: 86% cotton, 14% polyester, 380gsm, pre-shrunk and soft-washed
• Print: direct-to-garment (DTG)
• Color: black
• Fit: unisex, regular; size up for a relaxed, oversized look
• Sizes: S to 3XL
• Size reference: 6 ft 2 in wears L; 5 ft 7 in wears M

Measurements for every size are in the size guide.