The Japanese people used the word Kimono to indicate clothing in general during the sixteenth century which was long before the Meiji period when the word Wafuku was coined in Japan--The word Kimono was recognized by the European people as the word to indicate Japanese clothing like the word Wafuku in the modern Japanese sense, and the word Kimono with that sense have prevailed in the world so that what the Japanese people call Wafuku is called Kimono in the world.
日本で和服という言葉が生まれる明治時代よりもずっと前の16世紀の時点で、日本人が衣服のことを指して呼んだ着物(Kimono)が、現在で言う和服を表す語としてヨーロッパ人に知られるようになり、現在ではヨーロッパに限らず世界の多くの言語で日本で和服と呼んでいる物をKimonoと呼んでいる。