For six flurried days from Oct. 19, Tokyo's ritzy Midtown complex area hosted a flock of excited fashionistas for the ninth biannual Japan Fashion Week.
But this time around, the designers, models and critics must have been feeling some opening-night jitters after a tumultuous year for the designer fashion industry.
Amid the fallout from the global credit crunch, Japan's fashion world was shocked when the venerable Yohji Yamamoto brand filed for bankruptcy protection just weeks before JFW. Many international luxury brands have also deserted Japan, while lower-end fast-fashion labels such as Uniqlo, H&M and Forever21 have been on a roll as shoppers rein in their spending.