This afternoon I spent two blissful hours looking through racks of the most wonderfully varied vintage kimono, shelves of rolls of old kimono fabric and bins of remnants of vintage Japanese textiles reflecting a variety of techniques, some a century old.
If you want something lovely to wear, or desire some interesting textiles for sewing or quilt making, the Asia Gallery and Vintage Fabric Emporium is well worth a visit. The shop, formerly known as the Asia Gallery, used to be in Wellington, hidden behind shops on Kilbirnie’s main road. Spiralling rents prompted the move to Auckland where it is now located right next to Mt. Smart Stadium near Penrose. It remains owned and managed by the very knowledgeable and friendly Paul Rivers and Laongdao Trakunwong (Lao).
For those of you who love Asian textiles, this shop is an ‘Alladin’s Cave’ of reasonably-priced treasures! While there’s no website, the shop has a facebook page which describes the stock : “Asia Gallery and Vintage Fabric Emporium is a one-off store full of Kimono fabrics, hilltribe garments, old wooden furniture, ceramics and many other interesting items, mostly sourced from Japan and Hilltribe communities across Southeast Asia.”
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/asiagallerykimonomegastore
Address: 67 Maurice Road, Penrose, Auckland Phone: 09) 6347231 Email: asiagallerynz@yahoo.com Hours: 9.30-5.30 Mon-Sun Parking: onsite
Us Wellingtonians are very upset that they left us!