{
  "id": 6595403,
  "title": "Big in Japan: how an Argentine musician turned hand-painted kimonos into a hit",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/big-in-japan-how-an-argentine-musician-turned-hand-painted-kimonos",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-10T13:09:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Buenos Aires Herald",
    "slug": "buenos-aires-herald",
    "url": "https://buenosairesherald.com/culture-ideas/big-in-japan-how-an-argentine-musician-turned-hand-painted-kimonos-into-a-hit"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Argentine singer-songwriter and painter Alfonso Barbieri has gained international fame for his unique hand-painted kimonos, which have garnered rave reviews in Japan. The 2020 pandemic provided Barbieri and his partner Sofía Bergallo with an opportunity to collaborate on painting T-shirts using the Surrealist movement's \"exquisite corpse\" technique. They later adapted this process to create kimonos, which quickly gained popularity due to their individuality and unavailability through online marketplaces like Temu. Barbieri's designs often feature portraits of renowned artists and figures, such as Cuchi Leguizamón, Nelly Omar, Sophia Loren, and Diego Maradona. The kimonos were displayed at gallery Design Festa and atelier Okappa Chan in Japan in 2023, accompanied by songs or poems that provided each piece with a unique narrative. Japanese audiences were particularly struck by the sense of humor and originality of the kimonos, describing them as something that no modern Japanese visual artist had ever created before. Barbieri and Bergallo have since expanded their design offerings to over 80 unique pieces, priced at AR$ 78,000 (US$50). In 2023, they signed a deal with Spanish record company Club del Disco to produce and distribute their latest albums, with production taking place in Los Angeles and featuring the likes of Oscar-winner Gustavo Santaolalla, folk-rock pioneer León Gieco, and renowned engineer Aníbal Kerpel. Barbieri's musical career began in 2001, with solo albums that have incorporated various styles, from folklore to rock, glam, cuarteto, and heavy metal. His most recent releases, \"Si Dios clonase pan\" (If God made bread) and \"Nubosidad bailable\" (Danceable cloudiness), were produced in Los Angeles with Grammy winner Aníbal Kerpel and feature contributions from Oscar and Grammy-winning musician Gustavo Santaolalla, Argentine rock icon León Gieco, and literary sensation Mariana Enríquez. Barbieri is currently planning performances in Buenos Aires and will be showcasing his latest songs in Barcelona, Madrid, and Berlin in the near future.",
  "summary": "Alfonso Barbieri has spent decades mixing pop culture into his music and paintings. Then a pandemic hobby became an unexpected success La entrada Big in Japan: how an Argentine musician turned hand-painted kimonos into a hit se publicó primero en Buenos Aires Herald .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}