The meteoric rise of fast fashion in Japan and around the world has been the major style story of this new century.
Fast-fashion companies continue to dominate high streets across the globe and are fast turning themselves into household names. In Tokyo, Uniqlo, H&M, Topshop, Zara and Forever 21 have scrawled their neon logos across the cityscape and turned upside-down preconceived notions of individual shopping areas catering for specific consumers.
Tokyo's swanky Ginza district is no longer a purely luxury zone, as cheaper chain brands are now localizing their "luxury-casual" merchandise there as well. Similarly, the youth-fashion warren that is Tokyo's Harajuku district has also lost its bohemian and alternative allure, transforming itself instead into a mass-consumer playground.