In the past, industry centered around sewing heavy materials, including military clothes and obi sashes for kimonos, as well as the cotton and indigo-dyeing native to the area.
And are just as likely to be caught peeking up kimonos as surprising grown men and challenging them to sumo matches. Though their chaos can be more dire.
The original role of geisha was as an assistant to the Oiran, who were high-class courtesans, dressed in amazingly flashy kimono and wearing heavy hairstyles.