Samuel Thomas is a fashion writer and lecturer at Bunka Gakuen University. He regularly contributes to The Japan Times, among other publications, and has his own site TokyoTelephone.com. He is currently pursuing his research in fashion at the University of Tokyo.
For Samuel Thomas's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
DressedUndressed from designers Takeshi Kitazawa and Emiko Sato has been an unassuming yet confident presence at Tokyo fashion week since 2012, when its initial collections courted tailoring connoisseurs with precise unisex attire that scaled in size but otherwise had no gendered distinction. A partnership ...
The "new year, new you" cliche that tempts consumers to spend more on style at this time of the year often has even the most cynical admitting that an excuse to indulge feels good. But when it comes to genuinely new fashion, it's actually ...
What brought you to Japan? I came here for the magic. Osaka is home to some of the best close-up magicians in the world. — Ben Daggers, magician Richard Brezina | COURTESY OF RICHARD BREZINA What's your favorite Japanese word or phrase? I like Japanese tongue-twisters; my ...
As regular followers of Japanese fashion can attest, the industry can be seen as somewhat flirtatious, dallying with new debutantes, another sister brand, another collaboration, another short-term "limited shop" or another retail concept that makes the news but doesn't really change the game. It is ...
The menswear collections on display at Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo in mid-October appear to be pushing irony-drenched streetwear.
"For photographers fashion week means mock military manoeuvres with us lugging our heavy gear around."
Cast your mind back to the giddy days of 2010, when the group of subcultural artists Chaos Lounge issued its first proclamation. While its stated goal was earnest and postmodern, the output was seen as a shock to the art world as it brought ...
A Ha-Ha 2015 runway show included models in wheelchairs Japanese fashion has never really been a successfully influential vehicle for protest movements and political statements. There have been attempts, such as the design collective Ha-Ha, which again became the enfant terrible of Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo ...
Much has been made of the recent closure of the monthly print edition of Shoichi Aoki's seminal Fruits street-style magazine, with many ready to cry that it sounds the death knell for Harajuku fashion, rather than seeing it as a simple casualty of the ...
Design duo Hiroyuki Horihata and Makiko Sekiguchi have been making the case for the inclusion of Japanese aesthetics in contemporary fashion for more than a decade. Since founding fashion brand Matohu, the pair have championed Japanese tradition on the runway, which isn't easy in an ...
