Power base Seventeen international Vogue editors pose in
Tokyo for Fashion’s Night Out.
Double strength in Tokyo
After having the earlier event cancelled due to a
devastating earthquake and tsunami, Mercedes-Benz Japan Fashion Week came
back with extra pizazz, as Yuka
Murai reports
Courtesy Yasutoshi Ezumi Johan Ku Design
Top Yasutoshi Ezumi’s String Theory.
Above Johan Ku’s The Two Faces used glow-in-the-dark
yarns from Taiwan.
TOKYO FASHION
WEEK KICKED OFF with sponsor Mercedes-Benz
showcasing its C-Klasse Coupé in mid-October. The new Week,
returning after the cancelled event earlier this year due to the
eastern Japan earthquake, got off to a glamorous start.
Showing its newfound confidence, Sir
Paul Smith was invited to take part alongside well established
Japanese designers in a special programme where his spring–summer
2012 ready-to-wear collection was shown.
Yasutoshi Ezumi, who was supposed to have shown in the
cancelled event, came back with his signature knitwear line, String
Theory. His highly developed skills and depth in knitwear allowed
a strong sense of sophistication to permeate throughout his collection,
consisting of light and summery, yet warm and cozy, knitted garments.
Another knitwear designer, Johan Ku, known for his extreme
proportions, constructed sculptural silhouettes, adapting his version
of knitwear-as-art towards the summer season. His latest offerings
used glow-in-the-dark yarns manufactured in Taiwan as the main foundation.
To fully demonstrate the impact these clothes had, venue lighting
was turned on and off so that both versions could be on offer: one
giving a green and blue glow and the other simply white underneath
the venues’ light. WWD Japan recently ranked Johan Ku’s The
Two Faces collection as one of the top seven shown during this
circuit.
continued below
Copyright Japan Fashion Week Organization—used with permission
Top Keita Maruyama. Above Yuki Toriis.
Veteran designer Keita Maruyama showcased his Save
the Last Dance for Me collection with a disco-themed stage.
A large disco ball was installed in the centre of the show with
Tokyo-based DJ Hazuki spinning tunes
on top of a turntable. His collection’s theme incorporated casual
denim prints, knitwear and tropical printed fabrics. Maruyama also
surprised his audiences by inviting popular South Korean pop star
Juno to walk as one of his models.
Another veteran designer, Yuki Toriis, demonstrated
her simple and modern lines adapted from female marine wear, while
GVGV wowed the crowds with its latest
collection of 1950s pin-up girls on vacation to Miami Beach. Tokyo
Collection came back this season with strong line-ups of designers,
each with their own defining characteristics.
continued below
Kazuo Oishi
As part of proceedings, an annual event, Tokyo Kimono
Week 2011, was held at Nihonbashi, which used to be the centre of
mercantile business
during the Edo Period. The event celebrates Japan’s traditional
form of fashion, the kimono. The fashion show attracted 500 guests,
and models walked down the runway with Tegaki Yuzens, as well as
other popular styles of kimono. Despite kimonos typically being
thought of as traditional wear, this week successfully demonstrated
how they can be fashionable as well as being accessible for younger
generations.
At districts targeting the youth market like Harajuku,
Omotesando, and Aoyama, international Vogue editors from
17 countries, including Anna Wintour, gathered to close off this
year’s Fashion Night’s Out (FNO) world
shopping event on the weekend of November 5.
The event began at Tokyo Hyatt Hotel with a Vogue
dinner, followed by an editor-only group photo shoot. Editors who
participated include Franca Sozzani from Italy, Emmanuelle Alt from
France, and Alexandra Shulman from the UK.
International photographer Frédéric Aranda captured
this historical line-up of Vogue editors.
Straight afterwards, they walked the streets of these
nearby shopping districts, visiting the industry’s biggest brands.
World-class designers like Michael Kors and Christopher Bailey also
enjoyed FNO in Tokyo.
This year’s FNO also played
a significant role for charity. A portion of proceeds from FNO
charity goods went towards the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief
Fund.
The Feel and Think: a New Era of Tokyo Fashion
exhibition opened to the public at the beginning of Fashion Week.
Collaborations with Fashion Week organizations saw the inclusion
of 10 up-and-coming designers, such as Matohu, Mint Designs, Theater
Products, and Somarta.
During this early part of the 21st century, we are witnessing
a change within the fashion environment. Fast fashion brands like
Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo are expanding
their market share in the industry, whilst high fashion brands created
in New York, Milano, and Paris have lost their appeal in the Japanese
fashion scene.
Although new creativity at street level and fast fashion
bring their unique and affordable choices to consumers, we need
to face the reality that consumerism and marketing are deeply getting
involved with art and fashion these days. These 10 selected designers
are those who practise art and fashion in the form of communication
with consumers, rather than following the latest trends of materialism.
They pose a question ‘What is real fashion to us?’ and answer their
questions through their daily creations.
This exhibition brings opportunities to visitors who
“feel and think” about the infinite possibilities bought forth within
this industry and the new age of fashion and its reality. The exhibition
had been held at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery until December 25,
and reopens at Kobe Fashion Museum from January 14, 2012. •
Kioku Keizo
Above Mint Designs exhibits at Feel
and Think: a New Era of Tokyo Fashion.
Yuka Murai of YM Biz &
Media is a correspondent for Lucire. She has a Flickr
photo journal at this
link.
Fast fashion brands like
Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo are expanding
their market share in the industry, whilst high fashion brands created
in New York, Milano, and Paris have lost their appeal in the Japanese
fashion scene
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