Kyle Smith, fashion editor for the US National Football Association (NFA), also attended. This season he brought a few players with him to see the shows, among them Quentin Lake of the Los Angeles Rams. Speaking after the sportswear-heavy Basicks, which held its show in a rugby stadium, Smith said Tokyo Fashion Week made for a refreshing break from the other fashion cities. “I like that it’s about the fashion. I feel like a lot of other fashion weeks have just become a circus of who has the most followers,” he said.
An international effort
JFWO’s international effort stretched beyond the buyers. While Tokyo’s schedule has been entirely populated with Asian talent for the past few years, this time, Paul Smith was invited as a guest designer by Rakuten’s By R initiative. Japanese actors Lily Franky, Kyoko Hasegawa and Tsubasa Honda sat front row.
“I adore Japan and so to be invited to the fashion week here is an absolute honour. It’s a lovely way to show the international collection here to my domestic customers and fans,” Sir Paul Smith, who had flown in the morning before the show, told Vogue Business.
The British label, which operates in 60 countries around the world and does 40 per cent of its business in Japan, sees Rakuten (which has a market cap of $13 billion) as a worthy partner and seeks to leverage its considerable e-commerce reach. For Rakuten’s part, the clout Paul Smith brings to the fashion week schedule is good for its profile. “Collaborating with world-class brands like Paul Smith through Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo and the by R project is key to boosting the Tokyo fashion scene’s presence internationally,” said Ryo Matsumura, Rakuten Group’s head of fashion.
Burnishing trust with buyers through quality
With the weak yen making international brands prohibitively expensive, Japanese brands can catch the eye of domestic buyers with competitive pricing and superior quality that is often made in Japan. “The strongest point for us is that we can produce,” said Hirofumi Kurino, co-founder and creative advisor of United Arrows. “From fabric to sewing to knitting to finishing, we make everything we can here. Only in Italy and Japan can we do this.” He highlighted womenswear brands Hyke, Fetico and Telma (whose designer Terumasa Nakajima worked at Dries van Noten) among the shows that exhibited particularly notable quality this season.
AloJapan.com