Painted smiles and porcelain perfection

The geisha has been portrayed in the media in many ways. Some notable instances include the Ray of Light-era Madonna reinvention, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and the best-selling novel Memoirs of a Geisha (a film version reportedly starring Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi is in the works). Yet all these wildly popular depictions have been somewhat controversial. Madonna has long been accused of appropriating elements of cultures she makes no effort to understand. Puccini’s Cio-Cio San was closer to a prostitute (at some point she reveals that she worked as a geisha when her family fell on hard times, which would have been difficult considering becoming as a geisha takes years of training and discipline to achieve). Memoirs of a Geisha drew criticism because it was a Japanese Cinderella story written by an American man. While the Western exploration of bits and pieces of Asian culture is nothing new, the geisha has been misrepresented a great deal because the cultures exploiting the concept are so radically different from the context from which it emerged.

Today, the role of the geisha is to preserve the arts in an increasingly Westernized Japan. Such a role is more easily exoticized than understood, even by the Japanese themselves – there are tourist traps in Japan that allow one to dress in ceremonial garments and pose as a geisha for a photograph, and Japanese teenagers wear white geisha makeup as a counterpoint to the "ganguro" look (Barbie-like deep tans and dyed blonde hair) that was popular a few years ago.

In their heyday, the geishas were the arbiters of high fashion in Japan, and they set trends with their distinctive refined style. Though the number of true geishas is dwindling due to a shift in Japanese social values, this season contemporary designers are looking towards the geisha for inspiration and fusing elegant kimonos, ornamented updos, and high contrast makeup with modern touches, bringing the iconic geisha look to the forefront of fashion – this time on an international level.

It’s not hard to see why the fashion industry is so enamored with women who dedicate their lives to the aesthetics, graceful movement, and the art of song, dance and conversation. Every aspect of a geisha’s appearance, from the length of her sleeves to the way the obi is tied to her hairstyle, reveals something about how far she has gone in training. A traditional ceremonial kimono can be as expensive and hard to pull off as contemporary haute couture, and it’s been said that one can tell if a woman wearing a kimono is a geisha by observing the smoothness of her movement in it. There are schools dedicated to teaching people how to wear kimonos properly.

Taking on such an important cultural icon can be a daunting task. Though the fashion world is much more fluid and forgiving about gleaning inspiration from all sources, in some circles, "geisha chic" is considered just as offensive as "Indian glam." Turning elements of cultures into trends is always a slippery slope because when the "trend" fades, the source of it tends remain misunderstood. How many people associate geishas with submissive or subservient women just because they live for art and fall outside the more traditional roles of wives/mothers? Not everyone who incorporates the geisha look into their wardrobe considers the weighty issues it calls into question.

The key to revitalizing this look is keeping the influence refined and elegant while toning down the more traditional elements with innovative but respectful details. Yohji Yamamoto replaced six-inch platform sandals with chunky, colorful sportswear-inspired flip-flops. Instead of whitening the face with cake makeup for a perfectly porcelain look, the focus is on brightening the skin to make it look radiant. And the kimono has been a fashion inspiration since it first gained international attention; it would be hard to find a designer who hasn’t been even slightly influenced by the exquisite silk garments, as seen in the short embroidered jackets (called "kimonitos") that appeared on the runways this season. The geisha look pays tribute to the training, skills, and discipline of the women who cultivate art contained within themselves and preserve it for the modern world.