Last season's Japan Fashion Week (JFW) was held before the New York Fashion Week, which is traditionally the first event on the annual international catwalk circuit. But this time, Tokyo reverted to its regular slot after the Paris Collections that have since time immemorial wrapped up the industry's biannual seasons.
Staged mostly in large tents erected in Nihonbashi, across from the Mitsukoshi department store, the event incorporated some 39 shows. With a handful of foreign journalists visiting courtesy of the government-related Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), designers this year unusually had the benefit of the judgment of experienced critics, who delivered largely positive write-ups.
In particular, the visiting style writers observed that the menswear shows, with their tightly fitted tailoring and clever riffs on military and classic looks, were stronger than most of the collections for women.