I'm making a casual research here and was wondering who got to make the clothes for the medieval japanese. From a quick search in the internet I got some kinds of clothing and materials (such as linen that is made of flax, or hemp clothes, aswell as cotton and silk.). I understand that attire has great social importance in many historical societies but we frequently forget to ask the economics behind it. So, my questions are:
The same question stands for clothes for the higher strata, but I understand there is a greater separation of material and process because the consumer of the end product could afford it. I also would like to know more about the professionals behind it.
You don't need a tailor for Japanese traditional clothing. While it is sized, it is not tailored to the figure. The squared shapes are pretty simple, have no buttons or laces, and are draped and tied with cloth bands called himo (Jpns lacks plural forms). Cotton garments like yukata are normally taken apart into pieces to be washed, dried on boards, then sewn back together. This kept housewives or maids busy. One could attribute clothing as much to seamstresses as seamsters. (Various Folkwear patterns for Jpns clothing)
Tailors are never responsible for growing fibres--that's a farmer's job. Look up sericulture for where siilk comes from. Do remember that fabric availability varies over time (I have no clue to what period you consider "medieval Japan xxNara? Tokugawa?). So will the styles worn, not only by class but profession, and by era. The clothing worn with armour is different than that without, and winter and summer garments may vary.
There were professional weavers and dyers, especially using the draw loom for fancy patterned fabrics. There were designers of patterns dyed on the fabric with stencils with invisible silk brides. Keeping up with pattern fashionability was like keeping up with shoe designers for us. The professional embroiderers (usually women) couched gold and silver threads and stitched polychrome cranes on monochrome brocades for hime.
My background is in kabuki dressing, but that encompasses everything from porters to hime. Hemp was used for transparent summer kimono (opaque garments under them) as well as cheap clothing, and silk and cotton rule. I confess, I had never noticed linen used in Japanese clothing, but cotton was only brought to the islands in 1558 ( http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/scientific-american/sup5/Cotton-Industries-Of-Japan.html#.VL9aCKdugf5). So I suspect everything cotton used to be linen. Farmers would grow cotton or flax, process to fibre, spin, and weave the cloth, then make it into rural clothing.