“These are not for everyone,” Amber Symond says, patting the golden silk of a kimono. It is stretched across the table in a grand drawing room with spectacular harbour views that today is serving as Symond’s office and showroom. “And that’s OK. They really aren’t meant to be.”

The kimonos form the basis of her new venture, Common Hours. Named for a Henry David Thoreau quote (Symond is a keen student of philosophy, as well as art, language and music), Common Hours is the result of two years’ work. The eight robes that make up the collection are not simply robes, but richly layered works of art, made from materials such as Italian silk, Japanese “fairy feather” silk and supple, butter-like leather.