When you nurture and support local talent in the hope that they’ll make it big globally, how do you keep benefiting from their success? That’s the challenge Japan Fashion Week Organization (JFWO) is facing this season, as Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo tries to figure out its role as a launchpad for emerging designers—who are increasingly moving on. With many of its biggest names either skipping the official schedule or showing abroad, the event has to look elsewhere to stay relevant. Even so, the week remains a solid place to spot new talent, as fresh designers enter the fashion week scene through a mix of award programs and a new push to go international. Here’s a rundown of what you missed from the week.
Read More: 5 Emerging Designers on Running a Label in Japan, by Ashley Ogawa Clarke
An off-schedule exodus
There were 27 shows on the main schedule over six days, but a lot of Tokyo’s top local designers were missing. They either chose to present their collections through lookbook shoots or held off-schedule shows earlier in the season, usually to align with the men’s fashion calendar or the pre-summer buying season in Paris. “Many emerging designers now prefer to show outside of Tokyo Fashion Week timing-wise, and they’re also trying to show in Paris,” says Kaoru Imajo, director of JFWO. This has made the SS27 season in Tokyo feel especially thin.
Viviano, a long-time name on the Tokyo schedule, decided to skip fashion week this season and put together a lookbook instead. The brand recently hired a PR team in LA, and its designs have since been worn by Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, and Hudson Williams, which has somewhat overshadowed the attention Tokyo alone can offer. “If you’re a really young brand and you need attention, it’s a good thing to show at Tokyo Fashion Week, but for us, once you reach a certain point, maybe being on the schedule isn’t as important.”
Knitwear brand Pillings by Ryota Murakami, one of Tokyo’s most promising new designers, stayed on schedule and was a standout of the week. It expanded its knitwear range into a broader selection, including linen suiting and sporty separates. Owned by The Sazaby League (which runs Ron Herman Japan), Pillings was shortlisted for last year’s LVMH Prize and now has over 25 international stockists, including Dover Street Market in London and New York and Andreas Murkudis in Berlin. At the end of September, Murakami will hold a showroom at Paris Fashion Week, hoping to add a few more to that list.
Pillings SS27. Photo: Umberto Fratini / Gorunway.com
“It made sense for us to show in Tokyo before going to Paris,” says the designer, who hinted this might be his last time showing in Japan. “We haven’t decided on the presentation format for next season, and I don’t think we’re ready for a full runway show in Paris just yet, but I’m thinking I’d like to take on more challenges.”
Looking outward
To fill the gap left by local talent flying the coop, JFWO is seizing the chance to bring in more international designers. Of the 27 slots this season, nine were from outside Japan, with designers hailing from France, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Canada, and China. “It’s a way for us to keep the week more exciting,” says Imajo, adding that Japanese journalists and buyers have responded especially well.
For the visiting designers, Tokyo Fashion Week offers a great business opportunity. Continuing a partnership that started last season, the Paris-based RUN x Andam showroom brought seven designers from across Europe to Tokyo to introduce them to the Japanese market. “It means a lot for us, and it gets a real response,” says Frederic Maus, CEO of WSN Group, which runs RUN. “For designers who have never been to Japan, it’s a huge experience that helps establish them in Asia,” he says, adding that WSN plans to work with JFWO on more activities.Sonia Carrasco and Anthony Calydon, two designers from the showroom, both held scheduled events during fashion week. Their time in Tokyo gave them valuable face-to-face contact with local fans and retailers. “In fashion, Japan always loves to discover something new,” says Carrasco, who showed a collection of deconstructed tailoring and does most of her business in Japan. “They were the first market to support me from the start, and they still support us now, so it’s a pleasure to be here.”
Sonia Carrasco SS27. Photo: Courtesy of Sonia Carrasco
Although the weak yen has made it pricier for Japanese stores to buy imported brands, experts are confident the market will stay strong. “Fashion is always challenging, but everywhere here there are shops, even more than in Europe,” says Maus. “Wholesale is still really strong, so Japan is a major opportunity. It’s a different market with its own rules, but once you understand that, Japan is a fantastic place. The way retailers tell the story is something I think we need to reinvent in Europe.”
An attractive market for buyers
Continuing its push to bring more attention to Tokyo, JFWO invited 16 overseas guests, including buyers and press from outlets like 10 Corso Como Seoul, ShowStudio, and Tessabit, a well-known luxury boutique in Lake Como. FWRD’s Luna was also on the list and attended the city’s fashion week for the first time. The buyer liked the event’s manageable size. “It’s definitely much smaller and calmer than other fashion weeks,” he says. “You’re less likely to be pulled around, which can cloud your thoughts when you’re buying.”
Alessandra Della Morte, a global retail development consultant, says Tokyo Fashion Week has felt especially exciting in recent years. “It’s not just more creativity from Japanese designers that has helped. Factors like the weak yen make Japanese brands more attractive to buyers, and Japanese brands now have more experience working with international wholesale,” she says. “As such, the range of brands showing here in Tokyo offers something valuable.”
Tokyo’s appeal isn’t just about business. As with last season, the designers who stood out in Tokyo did so by creating immersive installations that let visitors escape reality for a moment. Yusho Kobayashi, whose kawaii designs have recently been worn by Elle Fanning and K-pop group ILLIT, built a DIY set from cardboard that suggested an underwater world. Meanwhile, Yoshio Kubo showed a sporty collection for runners around a huge ger (a traditional Mongolian tent) placed in the center of the runway. “In Europe at the shows, you usually find a common thread, but you don’t see that as much here—it’s more diverse, which is super interesting,” says FWRD’s Luna. “It’s more about self-expression and getting back to the true root of personal style.”
Yoshio Kubo SS27.
The standout event of the week was Khoki, a design collective quickly gaining a cult following in menswear circles. Sponsored by Rakuten’s ByR initiative (which has previously supported a mix of global and local designers like Fetico, Paul Smith, and Marimekko), the show took place in a huge warehouse in Tokyo Bay, with a set that recreated designer Koki Abe’s family home in Yamanashi.
“Khoki is already very well represented in the retail scene here in Japan, and I think he has good potential to grow further,” says Della Morte. “A lot of Khoki’s techniques and deconstruction are pretty unique for what we’re buying and seeing,” adds Luna. “I think it’s filling a nice gap in our market.”
Speaking after the show, Abe was optimistic about its potential to drive more business. “I think holding this show will help us reach demographics we hadn’t been able to connect with before,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to the possibilities that will open up.”From here.
Stimulating the next wave
The week wrapped up with the announcement of two major awards aimed at supporting emerging fashion talent in Japan. The Fashion Prize of Tokyo, which helps a local designer show in Paris and has previously been won by labels like Auralee, Mame Kurogouchi, and Doublet, went this time to denim-focused brand Tanaka. Designer Sayori Tanaka, who once led the global design team at Uniqlo, will present her collection in Paris during the FW27 season.
Kenta Omiri was one of this year’s Tokyo Fashion Award recipients.
Tokyo Fashion Week’s main route for bringing new talent into the system is the Tokyo Fashion Award. “The award brings us eight designers every year, which is great, because they’ll all show during the FW27 season,” says Imajo. Along with financial support for a runway show in Tokyo next season, the eight winners will host a joint showroom during Paris Fashion Week to attract international buyers.
This year’s winners included Midorikawa, known for artisanal menswear, and Kenta Orimi, whose label Orimi draws on Harajuku street style. Also recognized were Gurtwein, an edgy womenswear brand by Teruhiro Hasegawa, and Jianying “Wing” Lai, who trained under Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy and later worked at Burberry. For their upcoming show, the duo hopes to build a closer bond with their audience.
“When I was at Givenchy, I dreamed of putting on a huge show, but selling in Japan has changed how I see things,” says Hasegawa. “I’ve had customers drive three hours just to find an item that was sold out at their local store. Hearing stories like that made me realize that, instead of a big spectacle, it might be more meaningful to hold a show where there’s a real connection between the audience and us.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs based on the provided topic categorized for clarity
General Overview
1 What is Tokyo Fashion Week and why is the SS27 edition special
Tokyo Fashion Week is Japans main semiannual event where designers showcase their upcoming collections The SS27 edition is notable because it marks a clear shift away from traditional trends focusing instead on personal expression sustainability and a blend of digital and physical fashion
2 What are the absolute biggest themes from this season
The biggest themes are Quiet Luxury Deconstructed Utility and Digital Craft
3 I dont follow fashion closely Why should I care about a fashion week in Tokyo
Tokyo often predicts the future of street style and casual wear The ideas shown herelike modular clothing or genderneutral fitsusually trickle down to highstreet brands globally within a year or two
Key Takeaways
4 The first takeaway mentions The Death of the Trend Cycle What does that actually mean
It means designers are no longer creating clothes that are in for one season and out the next Instead of pushing one specific color or silhouette they are designing timeless individualistic pieces that people will wear for years regardless of the calendar year
5 One takeaway was about HyperLocal Sustainability How is this different from regular sustainability
Regular sustainability usually means using recycled materials Hyperlocal sustainability in Tokyo means designers are using materials sourced within a 100mile radius of the city collaborating with local artisans and even using natural dyes made from Japanese plants Its about reducing carbon footprint by shortening the supply chain not just recycling
6 The event highlighted DigitalPhysical Hybrids Can you give me a concrete example of this
Yes Several designers showed physical garments that have QR codes woven into the fabric When scanned the code unlocks a digital twin of the garment that you can wear on your avatar in gaming or social apps Another example is a designer who used 3D printing to create the buttons and clasps but handstitched the rest