Japan Fashion Week Preview
Young Japanese fashion designers have historically been of interest only to the Japanese domestic market, even as their superstars went on to international fame. Designers Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Junya Watanabe, and Issey Miyake are known internationally, but who are the next generation of Japanese talent? For 20 years, the main Tokyo Collection fashion shows introduced these new designers, but the long show schedule and the runways dispersed around Tokyo made press coverage difficult, especially among international journalists. To remedy the situation, in 2005, the Council of Fashion Designers in Tokyo formed Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo, to create tightly scheduled, centrally located fashion week, and the shows have been running biannually ever since.
March 23, 2010 marks the start of the 10th Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo. To preview these shows to an American audience, eight JFW designers were brought into New York at the end of New York Fashion Week to preview their collection to an audience in the friendly, open lofts of 82 Mercer Street. The eight designers were curated by JFW organization itself, the Japan External trade Organization (Jetro), Japan Fashion Product Organization, and Paris's Rendez Vous trade show.
Although the major Japanese brands show their collections either in Paris or outside of the JFW schedule, and the JFW schedule doesn't include the mass market fashion brands, the brands represented here nonetheless signify creative talent that have been largely ignored, even within the Japanese market.
FutureClaw was there at the New York presentation, and we were able to talk to some of the designers and the JFW management.
Aptform
Apform is a brand based in Toyko, but with a Greek designer at the helm. Designer Michail Gkinis, creates a heavily industrial design aesthetic mixed with natural inspiration. Gkinis uses Japanese mills and likes to formulate new fabric construction techniques, such as custom methods for fusing and bonding leather and fabric. Aptform is a unisex brand, with sizes available for men and women, and is the largest of the brands previewed in New York.
Tiny Dinosaur
Designer Naomi Yamamoto, a designer that started at Issey Miyake, follows a pattern reminiscent Yamamoto, that actually caused us to say "That's so Yohji." She also loves to experiment with double-stitching construction techniques, and the brand produces their own lines of shoes and accessories as well.
Chaolu Lab
Chaolu Lab is a womenswear collection launched in 2008 by designer Satoshi Hiramoto. The focus is on the environment, and this brand best represents the eco movement among the preview collections. Talking with Hiramoto, he points to a garment in a jacket, that jacket can hang on the wall and can be used as a multi-purpose blanket. He uses all natural fabrics with focuses on nature-themed detail, such as imprints of butterflies. Colors reflect nature. It was fun to talk to him and he was excited about his collection, which is all about nature.
Naoshi Sawayanagi
Designer Naoshi Sawayanagi focuses on broad shapes with details in materials texture, such as gold bubbles, while playing with form and function. He shaped one scarf into a hat, and showed a jacket with interchangeable elements.
The Dress & Co. Hideaki Sakaguchi
Hideaki Sakaguchi produced a collection reminiscent of some of the lolita styles, with the soft romantic victorian feel from the lace, layers, and ruffles. The makeup and teased hair on the models completed the European peasant look.
Mikio Sakabe / Shuen Jen-fang
Mikio Sakabe officially presented Mikio Sakabe for Fall 2007 in Paris Fashion week and has been showing in Tokyo from Spring 2008 and Milan fall 2009. Sakabe met Taiwanese Shuen Jen-fang when she was a student at the Le Cambre in Brussels and together they launched the womenswear line Mikio Sakabe.
This is a heavy-metal inspired collection that features interchangeable with men & women wearing. Hats-made-out-of-scarves made an appearance in this preview as well.
Shida Tatsuya
Shida Tatsuya's presentation in New York was limited to a couple of sculpted wrappings in fur and animal print.
Yu
Designer Yu Konishi graduated from Esmond Japon and worked with several apparel brands in Japan before relocating to Sydney to establish Yu in 2006. Yu was the most business-friendly collection of the evening.
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Japan Fashion Week Chairman Masahiko Miyake
We talked with the Chairman of JFW, Masahiko Miyake, through a translator, about why JFW was previewed in the US. We were told that the designers wanted to come to the US, and it was the second time they've been in the US. The economy in Japan was worse than the US, so they wanted to expand and expose themselves to a better market. They talked of exhibiting in Paris and Milan, but the designers wanted to come to the US. In the future? Nothing is for sure, but Japanese people like the American market, and vice-versa.
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Words - Bobby Mozumder and Julie Bobek
Pictures - Omar Mozumder
