Tokyo's cherry trees may have been staging their annual spring spectacular, but the capital's fashionistas have been feeling the cold as their twice-yearly catwalk extravaganza focused on what we'll be wearing next autumn and winter.
The Autumn/Winter 2003/2004 Tokyo Collections, organized by the Council of Fashion Designers, Tokyo, featured more than 50 designers who, over a five-week period ending this weekend, have been presenting their creations at venues around the city.
Though the "founding fathers" of the country's contemporary fashion -- namely Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Hanae Mori -- were all notably absent, choosing to show in other world fashion centers instead, the strong message from the Collections is of a crop of young, up-and-coming designers who are moving forward with enthusiasm and creativity, eager to project Japan to the forefront of world fashion, and at the same time inject an individuality all their own.