February 2010

Frock On

Fashionistas looking to nourish all their senses at once can head to Tokyo’s outrageous biannual fashion show

Frock On

WORDS MANAMI OKAZAKI

Japan has become one of the world’s fashion meccas thanks to the worldwide recognition of giants such as Comme des Garçons, Issey Miyake and Kenzo.

It was back in 1982 that Japanese design first made a real impression on the fashion world, when some 12 designers showed their collections in Paris at the prêt-a-porter shows. Their unique aesthetic combining monochromatic minimalism with unusual angles had a huge impact on the contemporary fashion world.

However, ask anyone who has walked around the trendy Harajuku, Shibuya, Daikanyama or Naka-Meguro districts on the weekend where the most impressive place to see fashion is and they’ll tell you it’s on the streets, not in the high fashion boutiques.

The average Japanese girl is so incredibly style-conscious that the streets are like a live catalogue of creative experiments, from the sophisticated to the eccentric, representing everything from androgynous skater-style street labels to the ultra chic and sexy glamour look.

Given that the biannual Tokyo fashion week is closed to the public, and usually restricted to industry buyers and press, it comes as welcome news that there’s a show that incorporates the energy and flamboyance of Japanese female youth fashion. Best of all, it’s open to the public. Tokyo Girls Collection, held on 6 March at Yokohama Arena, is an event that features 25 of Tokyo’s most popular youth-orientated fashion labels and is a carnival-styled extravaganza that pulls in over 23,000 attendees.

The entertainment includes everything from singers and local celebrities to over 70 of the most popular models, actresses and idols.

It’s also unusual in that it gives attendees the chance to buy the outfits being paraded down the catwalk, by labels such as Double Standard, Alba Rosa and Cecil McBee, by tapping away into their phones. The clothing ordered via mobile internet arrives nicely packaged on doorsteps the next day.

This event features clothing that currently adorns the racks of numerous malls and boutiques, in all their pastel-coloured glory, and even if you have no intention of furiously making purchases over your mobile phone, the raucous and choreographed shows are a true spectacle to watch.

Yukiko, an attendee of the 2009 Autumn/ Winter event — an LCD-backlit extravaganza featuring drag shows and live make-up demos — buzzes with excitement.

“Sugoi tanoshikatta! So much fun!” she glows with a post-shopping adrenaline buzz — without a single bag in sight. “Japanese girls have so much energy and creativity, and we love to buy clothes. It’s the best fashion event for girls who like funky and fresh fashion!”

“I’m not really interested in haute couture-style fashion or business wear, I just want to see the kind of clothes that I like. And I like the models — they are the girls I look up to.” Most of the models on show are the “cute-type” girls with names such as Angelababy, Melody and Coco often seen in magazines and the Japanese media, reflecting the national obsession with all things adorable and kitschy.

The show itself is run by girlswalker.com, a mobile phone portal fashion site with seven million users, conceived by an enterprising start-up called Xavel branding inc., and it enables shoppers to buy trendy, affordable clothing from each of its partner labels. Tapping into the formidable consumer force of the young, female technologically savvy shopper, its users are mainly women aged 20 to 34.

The concept is not exclusively Japanese. There are other m-commerce companies springing up elsewhere, such as Shoptext in the US which enables text-message shopping. Condé Nast’s Lucky magazine experimented with the idea of selling products via text in its September 2006 issue. Polo Ralph Lauren, keeping an eye on Japanese trends, opened a mobile site in August 2008, making it the first luxury retailer to veer in the m-commerce direction.

Milkfed, a cute and casual women’s clothing range based in Japan and founded by film director Sophia Coppola with best friend Stephanie Hayman and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, is one of the brands that regularly shows at Tokyo Girls Collection.

Milkfed representative, Ms Ito, considers the event successful on many levels: “I think Tokyo Girls Collection is a ground-breaking method of buying clothes, where you can instantly purchase items that you see at a fashion show.

“I think initially, it’s people that live in rural or provincial areas who utilise Girls Walker. Also, people come to Girls Walker to look for things that have sold out in the stores. Using this event, there can be a synthesis between the ‘real clothes’ (i.e. casual and affordable brands) that are representative of Japan, the image and the products. Because it widens the image of Milkfed, we were able to broaden the range of new customers.”

Other brands on show are top casual girls labels such as the surfer-inspired clothing label Alba Rosa, Another Edition and Topshop.

Beams, founded by Yo Shitara, is a high-quality, casual brand with a cult following. Known for its logos and T-shirt designs, Beams sets fashion trends internationally, with shops in New York, Paris and London.

Also showing is Cecil McBee, an ultra-girly brand that takes the aesthetic of femininity to the max. It’s the most popular shop in the Shibuya 109 department store, and emulates the latest trends in Tokyo.

Conservatism has no place in the young Japanese girl’s wardrobe, and the show is a real representation of what happens on street level, before the girls inevitably lose their pink frilled, bedazzled ways.

Besides witnessing a new shopping phenomenon that has taken Japan by storm, Tokyo Girls Collection is the best place to see incredible fashion trends and Japanese female youth culture in a completely over-the-top spectacle.

The March Spring/Summer 2010 event is the 10-year anniversary, and promises to be the most extravagant, outrageous yet.

Tokyo Girls Collection — Spring/Summer Yokohama Arena, ¥5,000–7,000 (AU$58–81) for tickets at http://gw.tv/tgc/

Jetstar flies to Tokyo from Cairns, the Gold Coast and Sydney, and from Auckland and Christchurch. Jetstar Light Fares from AU$329 one-way.

Aren’t you entitled to a little Star Treatment? Fly StarClass to Tokyo. Book online at Jetstar.com






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