Josie Natori and Johnny Was team up on kimonos, caftans and pajama sets

Josie Natori and Johnny Was have produced their first loungewear capsule together under the label Natori x Johnny Was. The line pairs silk robes, caftans, pajama sets and elevated loungewear, and it reaches Johnny Was' 72 American stores, johnnywas.com and natori.com starting Monday.

Prices run from $160 up to $2,400, a span that reflects the range inside the collection: seasonless pajamas at one end and limited-edition, hand-embroidered dusters and caftans at the other. The assortment also includes an embroidered hoodie and blankets positioned as gifts.

The designs begin in Natori's print archive, where her signature motifs were redrawn through Johnny Was' color palette and embroidery techniques. Josie Natori described a capsule couture collection of embroidered kimonos built from those archives, with work beginning a year ago.

What the collaboration pairs

Caftans in the line were handcrafted in Natori's factory in the Philippines, Natori said. The frame she uses for the whole project is art entering daily life: bringing prints and handwork into pieces that move between occasions, a nod to innerwear that is increasingly worn as outerwear.

Natori founded her eponymous house in 1977, and it remains a family-owned lifestyle brand built on an East-meets-West aesthetic. What began as lingerie and sleepwear now spans ready-to-wear, accessories and home, which is the heritage Johnny Was drew on for embroidery and print.

Johnny Was, started in 1987, is the younger and more relaxed side of the pairing, known for layered, bohemian dressing. Kazor said embroidery and prints are what set the brand apart as it evolves, and that Natori brought an immersion in art meeting fashion alongside a trusted mentor for her team.

Lisa Kazor, president of Johnny Was, took that role in December 2025 after serving as chief commercial officer and strategic adviser from April 2025. Her earlier stops include Bloomingdale's, Tourneau/Bucherer and Joor, plus 25 years at Neiman Marcus Group rising to senior vice president for women's ready-to-wear, outerwear and intimates.

That Neiman Marcus history is the personal thread through the deal. Natori said she could not say no to Kazor, whom she has known and worked with for over 30 years. Kazor called the union a full-circle moment after their first collaborations in women's ready-to-wear and intimate apparel.

Oxford Industries brought Johnny Was into its portfolio in September 2022 for $270 million. The parent now gives the capsule real retail reach: 72 doors for the holiday season, a number Natori flagged as enticing for a category in which she built her authority over five decades.

Christy Whitley, head of design at Johnny Was, framed the fit as the two houses complementing one another: Natori's archive met by Johnny Was' personality in color and embroidery, producing what she called a feminine, slightly unexpected result that carries artistry into everyday at-home moments.

The pieces to watch

Kazor said her favorite pieces are the hand-embroidered ones. She called the limited-edition dusters and caftans superlative examples of both brands' craft, and she singled out the pajamas as seasonless, with the embroidered hoodie and blankets flagged as likely gifts heading into the holidays.

The embroidered kimonos are at the top of the range and carry the Philippine handwork. Below them the silk robes and pajama sets broaden the line into daily wear, which is where the collection's move between occasions shows: pieces sold as loungewear that a buyer can take out of the house.

Kazor described a process that was personal from start to finish, borne of friendship, respect and admiration shared across both teams. The print and embroidery selection, she said, was the fun part of the work, and she credited Natori's humor with putting joy into the finished line's colors and stitching.

The $2,400 ceiling is the clearest marker of the couture capsule's ambition. A buyer paying that is getting a limited piece of handwork rather than a sleeping garment, which is the same split the $160 entry point signals at the other end: an accessible, seasonless pajama in a print-heavy line.

The ready-to-wear and intimate apparel groundwork between Natori and Kazor predates Johnny Was entirely, so the capsule extends a working relationship rather than creating one. That continuity is what both principals stressed, and it shows in an archive-led collection rather than a trend-led one.

We rate the field these pieces enter as crowded, and our guide to the best loungewear brands for women names the labels a collaborator like this is measured against. What Natori x Johnny Was adds is embroidery and archive print at a price point competing with the established names in our list.

The collection opens Monday with no stated end date, positioning it across the holiday selling season where Johnny Was' 72 stores give it physical presence. Nothing in the announcement limits the run of the pajama sets, which Kazor framed as year-round pieces rather than strictly cold-weather loungewear.