Designer Jotaro Saito seeks to free the kimono from the confines of tradition
Jotaro Saito has been showcasing his kimono brand at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo since 2006, almost a decade before the eyebrow-raising appearance of X Japan frontman Yoshiki Hayashi's Yoshikimono brand at the event last October. It's true that Matohu, from design partnership Hiroyuki Horihata and ...
Tokyo fashion week: Menswear is caught in the great divide
Trends for normcore restraint in current Japanese menswear have taken the mainstream hostage, prompting a divisive splinter on the Tokyo fashion week runways. At one end of the spectrum, we find a push toward an exaggeration of restraint exemplified by the likes of design partnership ...
Tokyo fashion week: Hiromichi Ochiai — man in the middle
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo wrapped up its runway shows at the Hikarie shopping complex in Shibuya Ward on Oct. 17, ending six days of presentations that showcased a wide range of collections for the upcoming 2016 spring/summer season. Hikarie, a swanky retail complex that was ...
Tokyo fashion week: womenswear gets a welcome jolt of energy
The 2016 spring/summer womenswear lineup certainly threw up its fair share of surprises at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo earlier this month. The biggest talking point of the shows, however, was an edgy tribute to one of the country's traditional garbs — the luxurious kimono. Led ...
Tokyo fashion week: menswear goes 'glocal'
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo's menswear collections are routinely lauded as the most courted commodity internationally, and yet the counterpoint is frequently forgotten — just what does menswear from abroad have to offer the week? Although Tokyo seems set to be the gateway to East Asian ...
Christian Dada's Masanori Morikawa: making his own way
Tokyo's fashion fans spent six days in the middle of this month looking at the city from the lofty viewpoint afforded by Shibuya's Hikarie building, and yet for all the excitement that was generated over the coming fall/winter collections, the rest of the city ...
Womenswear collections showcased in mid-March for the fall/winter 2015-16 season were decidedly eclectic in composition, including designs that were as street-savvy as they were cute. Thailand-based brand Sretsis lived up to its reputation as the adopted star of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, kicking off festivities ...
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, as witnessed on social meda
The styles, the people, the looks of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo ... as witnessed on social media
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo: young blood
Ten years have now passed since Tokyo first strutted its stuff on the international catwalk and yet the metropolis still lacks the pulling power of rivals such as Milan, New York and Paris. As if the domestic industry didn't have enough on its plate, ...
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo: packing a punch
The womenswear showcased during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo marched to its own beat, with eye-opening collections coming from far-flung ends of the fashion spectrum. From stark minimalism to '80s idols, the collections delivered a pinata of fashion treats, and since the seasons change faster ...
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo: Menswear looks for leadership
Christian Dada designer Masanori Morikawa's departure from Tokyo to show at Paris Fashion Week this season created an opportunity for a new headline act to emerge from the sidelines and seize the reins at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo. All eyes were on design house Mr.Gentleman ...
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo: breaking with tradition
There is an identity crisis at the heart of Japanese fashion. It has two contradictory faces that it would like to reconcile — both domestically and abroad. On one hand, the image of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu acolytes posing on the streets of Harajuku prevails ...
