The paper that Malika Kraamer and myself recently published in Textile History is finally available online [requires institutional access].

Based on primary research undertaken for the Cultural Olympiad exhibition, ‘Suits and Saris’, the paper looks at:

… the phenomenon of Japanese saris — fashion-forward synthetic saris manufactured in Japan — and Leicester sari shop owners’ role in their design and popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s. We use this previously untold story to explore transnational identities as manifested through cultures of dress. We investigate the transnational space in which these saris were produced and used, and we focus in particular on the multiple migrant experiences of East African Asians, many of whom emigrated to Britain during the late 1960s and 1970s. We argue that the truly global phenomenon of Japanese saris would not have been possible without the transnational and multiple migrant nature of the South Asian diaspora.

The full citation is:

Amy Jane Barnes and Malika Kraamer. “Japanese Saris: Dress, Globalisation and Multiple Migrants.” Textile History 2015; 46(2), 169-188.

DOI: 10.1080/00404969.2015.1121657