The problem with any road to a resurrection is the uphill struggle to the tipping point from victim to bold renaissance. In the case of Fukushima Prefecture, so cruelly devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami eight years ago this month, there has been a cultural shift as the resources poured into tourism and agriculture have borne fruit domestically. Even so, the areas directly affected still occupy more sober political discussion.
That may be an odd way to introduce the glitz and glamor of a fashion show, but this year, at Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo, Fukushima was posed as a label in itself, and it showed that it has the power to help revive the area — not as an ongoing apologetic opportunity for individuals to proffer charity when they buy local groceries, but as a successful brand story in its own right.
Looking back to 2011, when Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo (as it was known then, before Mercedes-Benz and now Amazon became its sponsor) officially canceled, one of the key issues, aside from the timing, that beset many brands was that their samples and textiles for collections were made in Fukushima. As one brand representative who had garments ready for the showrooms noted back then, "We can't take orders without knowing when the factories are up and running."