Japan Fashion Week Highlights

by Terri Potratz | September 9, 2008 at 12:36 pm

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Japan Fashion Week went down in Tokyo from September 1 - 5, and once again there were plenty of wacky designs to turn heads.

Some of the more colourful and out there collections were embodied by the following labels:

mercibeaucoup brought plaid, frill and chunky accessories onto the runway. Plenty of layering and quirky adornments make this line very cutesy Japanese.
Fur Fur was very whimsical - models adopted mythical garden personas, as layers upon layers of dried branches and flowers filled in every possible layer and pocket available.
Aguri Sagimori paraded doll-headed models with voluminous hair out in sheer fabrics and heavy asymmetrical layers.

I was drawn to the following collections, you might spot a trend here:

the everlasting sprout collection adopted a nice balance between structured conceptual pieces and light, airy layered garments, many of which were ready-to-wear. The romantic pastels were accentuated by subtle punches of colour, very appealing to the eye.
menswear and womenswear from tiny dinosaur was likewise marked by soft and neutral colours, with loose casual fits. Ankle socks worn with heels were a consistent styling feature.
I absolutely loved the matohu line - graceful and lovely pieces incorporated a rainbow of pastels; everything from the robe-inspired sweaters, to the crossover belted dresses, and knit leggings caught my eye. A nice marriage between old school conformity to new school romanticism.

One additional theme I noticed emerging from this Spring/Summer 2009 collections at Japan Fashion Week was bone structure. And I'm not talking of the chiseled and angular facial features of the models, I mean real bones. Somarta, Mintdesigns and HISUI all worked bone inspired trimmings into their lines - as headpieces, jewelry, and structural enhancers.

Overall trends seem to include the ethereal, flowery and full, with lots of layering and pretty pastels.