A haori kimono jacket is an exquisite, easy to wear, traditional Japanese jacket that looks wonderful worn either casually with jeans or dressed up with evening wear. It's a long Japanese jacket, with deep, kimono style, swinging sleeves; always in lovely fabrics, often with lavish designs on the back. Haori kimono jackets, unlike kimonos, do not need a sash or obi; they are either worn open or loosely fastened at centre front with a himo tie but, although the Japanese don't wear them with a sash, they also look fabulous cinched in at the waist with a belt. Haori kimono jackets mix perfectly with western world style clothing, so are a great way of adding that touch of Japan to your wardrobe.

Haoris seem to be a well kept Japanese secret. We, over here in the West, all know about their lovely kimonos but few have ever even heard of haoris and it is only relatively recently that I discovered these jackets that the Japanese sometimes wear on top of their kimonos. I only discovered haoris because I had a passion for kimonos and the people I get them from in Japan showed me some of these jackets, which I ignored at first because I was focused only on kimonos, but eventually I bought one just to see what it was like. From then on I was hooked. I love that I can now publicly wear something so clearly Japanese, very striking and so different from what I see other people wearing. I think of them as one of Japan's secret treasures.