No range of "kimono" lingerie for Kim Kardashian

"After carefulness, I will launch my brand of sculptive underwear under a new name," the star explained to his 142 million subscribers to her Instagram account.

"I am always attentive, I learn and I grow-I therefore appreciate the passion and the different perspectives that people bring me," she said, saying that he had the best intentions by launching herrange.

A word game on his first name

The wife of rapper Kanye West, who created his own brand of beauty, perfume and clothing products, had unveiled last week on Instagram his new range of underwear called Kimono, according to her a play on words on hisfirst name.

But she had quickly triggered a storm on social networks, some Internet users accusing her of disparaging traditional Japanese basic clothing.

Daisaku Kadokawa, the mayor of Kyoto, had even asked him in a letter to give up this name.

The authorities of the ancient Imperial capital of Japan had also expressed their concerns about the dissemination of a misunderstanding of what Kimono is because of the influence of Ms. Kardashian.

Tuesday, the Minister of Commerce and Industry Hiroshige Seko invited himself in the debate, announcing the sending next week to the United States of senior officials of the Patent and Brands Bureau to discuss the situation with their American counterparts.

"Kimono, a traditional Japanese habit, is part of a culture that our country can pride itself around the world," he said to the press.

"In the United States too, he enjoys great notoriety and I hope that the American authorities will carry out the necessary controls to ensure that such a brand is not deposited in the future," said the minister.

The term kimono literally designates something that we wear.Formerly common in the Japanese wardrobe, it is today often reserved for special occasions as marriages and especially carried by women.

This refined and very expensive habit has the reputation of being difficult to wear: the technique to arrange the different fabrics and to tie the large belt called OBI is very complex, the tight and uncomfortable port for whom is not used and the approach inZori (traditional sandals) little easy.

Cultural appropriation?

The fashion world is regularly shaken by controversies about cultural appropriation, Anglo-Saxon concept which denounces the recovery of symbols of often minority cultures without authorization.

Recently, the Mexican government has protested the use of ethnic textile patterns by the New York fashion house Carolina Herrera for its Resort 2020 collection.

Critics also reach the world of song: Bruno Mars was thus accused of spoiling black culture, and Katy Perry apologized for having worn African braids in a clip.