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April 29, 2024
 

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Samuel Thomas

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Samuel Thomas
Samuel Thomas is a fashion writer and lecturer in fashion media at Bunka Gakuen University. He regularly contributes to The Japan Times, among other publications, and provides consultancy services to industry clients.
For Samuel Thomas's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 11, 2013
Prabal Gurung takes to the sky, Swedish style lands in Osaka and NukeMe creates turbulent fabrics
Prabal Gurung is being tapped to design new uniforms for All Nippon Airways group's 60th anniversary last year. ANA surely chose New York based-Gurung in a bid to show its global aspirations, and it helps that he is one of the hottest commodities on the market, as a young up-and-comer with some major notches on his belt. He's already claimed fame with clients such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Prince William's wife, Kate Middleton, and Lady Gaga among others. He does also have some ties to Japan — he is currently chief designer of Onward Kashiyama-owned brand ICB NY.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 14, 2013
Retro makes a comeback, while subcultures seep into high fashion
Phillip Lim's new collection speeds ahead
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 30, 2013
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on a mission to spread Japan's kawaii culture
'Cool' may have been the official buzzword, but if the chants of the 20,000 strong audience at a recent festival are to be believed, that word has been ousted by a new one: 'kawaii.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 30, 2013
Dempagumi.inc: Akihabara' kawaii-guru idols
Dempagumi.inc have become the faces of a new generation of Akihabara pop music, as well as a force to be reckoned with in the fashion world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Apr 9, 2013
Fashion idols of all stripes rock it in Cool Japan
Marc Jacobs' playful sides goes on display at Idol
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 31, 2013
Fashion Week Tokyo: The menswear question — to be showy or simplify?
The February bankruptcy of Takeshi Osumi's seminal brand Phenomenon, and its departure from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo (FWT) before this season's March 17-23 shows, left a chasm apparent to all. And indeed, it's a mystery who may be able to fill the rather large shoes of the man who added such spice to the runway as wicker vests and medieval armor-inspired bomber jackets.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Mar 12, 2013
Plenty to enjoy as fashion week approaches
The Italian denim magnate Diesel and EDUN, the niche eco-friendly brand developed by musician Bono and his wife, have something in common — a love of Africa and its artistic scene. It makes sense then that last year they announced DIESEL+EDUN, a denim collection, "Born in Africa and worn by a new generation of creative talents."
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 19, 2013
Mastermind moves on, American Apparel is at home in Japan and Primitive London takes a trip to Tokyo
It's a bittersweet finale for the famed Japanese fashion brand Mastermind, as it officially ends its 15-year run with the release of its 2013 spring/summer — and final — collection.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jan 8, 2013
Here comes Fred
This year will see the arrival of a formidable new force in the Japanese fashion market. Perhaps best known for being a go-to for Hollywood stars, Fred Segal is a trend-setting California clothing and lifestyle goods retailer, which in its 50-year history had never planned to expand beyond Los Angeles. That is until it was acquired by the New York-based Sandow brand-building group in January 2012.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Dec 11, 2012
Fashion's Night Out hits Japan's second-largest city, with another all-star cast of names
The popular Fashion's Night Out festival — helmed by Vogue magazine and held in the top fashion cities of the world every September — is about to be replicated in Osaka, Japan's second-largest city.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 13, 2012
Designer Cynthia Rowley hits the double digits
New York-based designer Cynthia Rowley celebrated her brand's 10th year in Japan with a special talk show and cocktail dinner for VIP guests during Tokyo Fashion Week. The Barrington, Illinois, native's name has long been on the lips of American sportswear fans with her bright and feminine takes on casual-to-cocktail-style clothing. In Japan, the "Rowley girl" is extra sweet but could be concealing a little bit more edge. Rowley spoke to The Japan Times from her flagship boutique in Tokyo's trendy Aoyama district.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 6, 2012
touchMe event puts fashion within reach of all
Just one week after Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo had drawn to a close, the capital's fashionistas were drawn back to the runway for a slew of shows that have been gaining in popularity.
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 28, 2012
Menswear looks hot to trot
Men were quick to put their best feet forward at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, with a heavy concentration of light and minimalist sportswear that proved popular on the catwalks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 28, 2012
Context the key at alt fashion fest
Watching the Fashion Week Tokyo models pounding polished catwalks in the glitzy Hikarie building in shopping-central Shibuya, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Paris.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Oct 9, 2012
Parco puts the spotlight on Shibuya's evolving youth culture
Department store Parco is aiming to fill the vacuum created by the rapidly declining gyaru (gal) culture that used to define the Shibuya area of Tokyo. By taking aspects of the otaku (geek) culture of Akihabara and re-imagining them through art and fashion in the context of a popular shopping district, it is presenting a genuinely fresh face of Tokyo youth fashion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Sep 11, 2012
Louis Vuitton still going dotty
Fans of French luxury brand Louis Vuitton are still seeing spots before their eyes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Aug 14, 2012
Parisienne cool reaches Tokyo
Isabel Marant, the queen of French haute-casual wear, has finally opened her first shop in Japan, right off of Tokyo's Omotesando promenade.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jul 10, 2012
The beautiful future of fashion
The "Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion" exhibition first showed at the Barbican Art Gallery in London in 2010 and traveled to the Haus der Kunst in Munich in 2011. Highly acclaimed by art critics and fashion fans, the show is finally making a pit stop in Japan, at Tokyo's Museum of Contemporary Art (MoT), starting at the end of this month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 12, 2012
Totally wrapped in Joy
Asked to name a seminal New York City-born musician with an intrepid preference for over-the-top fashion, and Lady Gaga would surely the first name to roll off the tongue. But there's another female musician from the city who influenced global fashion with her unique taste in stage costumes: Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O's colorful finger-painting-meets-punk approach to outfits won her fans as an icon for the new millennium — and just before Gaga, too.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 8, 2012
Issey Miyake's innovations beat the Brits to win the Design Museum of London fashion award
Colloquially called "The Oscars of Design," the Design Museum of London Design Awards are prestigious accolades given in six categories to the most innovative and inspiring designs of the year — and this year's top honors in the fashion category went to Japan's own Issey Miyake and his team of boundary-pushing researchers dubbed the "Reality Lab".
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Putin’s war will soon reach Russians’ tax bills
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting in St. Petersburg on Friday.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

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