Street Wise
Tokyo Fashion Week soars with imagination
Tokyo Fashion Week is arguably the craziest out of all the major fashion weeks (New York, London, Paris, etc). Amazon Fashion Week, as it’s called in Tokyo, brings about eye-popping color, boldly mixed prints, off-kilter silhouettes, and an emphasis on street style cool – an element often missing from some of the more austere fashion weeks in other locales.
It’s a welcome fact that Tokyo street style never seems to lose its magic touch, especially with all of this season’s bolder and brighter showgoers making their presences known. Recent global trends are on full display (man heels, commonly known as the “Johnny boot,” as well as higher and more aggressive styles, and PVC peep-toe boots), all reinterpreted through a distinctly Japanese point of view.
Held in March, Tokyo’s Fall/Winter Amazon Fashion Week has always been known for showcasing exciting new talent, along with established names, and this season is no exception. Aoi Wanaka, Shiho Shiroma, Tae Ashida, and Comme des Garcons are just some of the names displaying their hotly anticipated new collections.
Like I said before, street style inspiration is the name of the game at Amazon Fashion Week. The big theme this season was something I’ve covered here at PROVOKR before: the mixing of clashing prints.
Mismatched suiting, florals paired with Baroque prints, stripes with checkered pieces, abstract pattern on top of abstract pattern….you get the idea. As always, the key to these looks is the silhouette, and when it comes to the actual prints, it seems like this time around, it was the more, the merrier.
As far as fashion week show attendees go, in addition to the aforementioned bold prints and quirky silhouettes, accessories seemed to be another big emphasis. Head-turning waist bags (I’m loving all the recent fashion-friendly terms for FANNY PACK), layered necklaces, chunky sunglasses, and statement hats were all on full display.
Celebs have also gotten in on the action, obviously. Ever since Gwen Stefani sang the praises of the “Harajuku girl” all those years ago, Japanese fashion has had a huge impact on celebrity culture. One notable attendee this season was Halsey, who graced several shows with her signature rebellious-yet-not-in-that-overdone-way cool.
If you’re a fan of fashion, but not quite a fan of stuffy shows with a bunch of pomp and circumstance, then get into Tokyo’s Amazon Fashion Week. It’ll open your eyes (along with your feet, waist, and anything else you want to adorn) to ideas and silhouettes you may not have seen before, or even thought were possible.
