Fashion Week Tokyo designers on Japan's market and broadening their horizons

Over the weekend, Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo (FWT) wrapped up its SS24 edition, another in which it bolstered a message of taking a globally holistic approach to such occasions, while still supporting the local industry. And, as always, as one edition wraps, sights are already set on what is to come, and where the fashion week can go from here.

For the Asian designers that make up a bulk of FWT’s schedule, participating in the fashion week helps them to assess the present state of the market, and with the growing emphasis on international connections, it has also allowed them to consider worlds beyond their current borders. This year, the more local labels sat alongside an increased number of international brands on the roster, as part of Rakuten’s efforts to ramp up inclusion, as well as push for brand awareness.

This also went hand-in-hand with many of the designers’ reasonings as to why they joined FWT in the first place. Something that was particularly true for Dressedundressed's Takeshi Kitazawa, who rounded the fashion week out with the final show of the season. Following the theme of “self-portrait”, the brand’s digital presentation displayed flipped, horizontal images that reflected on themselves as models traced a spotlighted runway. For the designer, the fundamental mission of attending FWT, which they have been a part of since the autumn/winter 2012 season, was to introduce the concept of the brand to a wider audience. “We value the significance of consistently presenting our work,” the designer said in an interview with FashionUnited.

Japanese consumers and their willingness to support designer brands

This, in turn, has led to an array of new business opportunities and collaboration offers both domestically and internationally for the brand, contributing to its overall global expansion. The same could be said for many other participating designers, including Yohei Ohno, who additionally said they had received more overseas requests, and Seivson, a Taiwanese brand founded by Tzu Chin Shen - who currently leads the brand - and Song Mi-Jin, which has gradually expanded into the Japanese market through the fashion week and now considers around 5 percent of its customer base to be from the country.

For SS24, Seivson presented a womenswear collection that played on office attire, touching on the “personal magnetism of the professional woman”, with looks that hoped to draw in Japanese consumers, who Chin Shen said were more willing to pay higher prices for designer goods than those in Taiwan. As such, the brand’s challenge has been to find a balance between pricing and design to come to a final price point that suits both parties. However, it appears that Seivson has so far been successful in this field. Recently, during a pop-up at Isetan department store in Tokyo, the brand reported the highest sales among all those participating, reflecting the city’s importance to Seivson as a whole.

Chin Shen noted: “Tokyo is a city with its own culture and long-standing commitment to craftsmanship, and I appreciate this cultural persistence. Many brands here have a high level of recognition and there are unique enthusiasts for various styles. The culture here won’t disappear because of new things. The market is much more receptive than Taiwan, and it is very fashion-sensitive. Tokyo is indeed the largest fashion city in Asia. Coming here, I hope to not only challenge a new market but also believe that my designs are unique in Tokyo. I trust they will be loved in the market and help us expand.”

The diversification of sales methods presents challenges

There are of course challenges when it comes to the mission of global expansion, however. For Takayuki Chino, the designer at Cinoh, which presented an SS24 collection based around an elevated take on functional design, this comes from both the production of region-specific sizes – Asian sizes tend to be much smaller than those in the West – and the need to have high prices but with low recognition. Meanwhile, for Dressedundressed, which already operates alongside stockists in Japan and abroad, the designer said: “Recent challenges in business include language barriers in both domestic and international markets, physicality issues and the diversification of sales methods. These are not easy challenges to overcome, but we aim to address them one by one.”

Next to this, Kitazawa also appeared significantly aware of the disparity between clients from varying countries. Yet, for them, this is not an obstacle, but an opportunity to explore further afield. They added: “The ultimate users are approached as a genderless and wide-ranging audience. We value not only the differences between domestic and international markets, but also diversity and the philosophy beyond visible design.”

Supporting emerging brands and backing the return of established brands

Looking into the near future, it is clear that expansion is on the horizon for many of FWT’s designers. While Cinoh’s Chino is looking to strengthen the brand’s directly managed stores, Seven by Seven’s Junya Kawakami is eyeing the physical retail space. The designer set up the brand in 2013 after returning to Japan from San Francisco, which served as the influence for the SS24 collection. His work is formulated around remaking vintage clothing, putting particular value into archival collections to create “new” garments. On his design process, Kawakami said: “I create products by focusing on the materials and techniques I encounter at the time, as well as the emotions I feel when I want to create something.”

Such a concept has resonated well with consumers too. The Japanese brand has already established relationships with online luxury platforms, such as Farfetch and Maillot, and had presented its first exhibition in Paris back in January, with Kawakami noting that he was “keenly aware of the brand’s recognition overseas”. Yet, the designer has no intention of stopping there. He shared: “We are opening a flagship store in October. We would like to communicate with customers there and other places where they can enjoy the brand.”

Like others, Kawakami hopes that Rakuten FWT can continue to build on its platform in order to help other brands get to a similar level that Seven by Seven has realised, by supporting them in their venture into the market and helping them to communicate their own ideas. Seivson’s Chin Shen seconded this notion, but highlighted that there was an additional need for notable labels to consider the city, adding: “I hope to see more successful Japanese brands with international recognition return to Tokyo, maintaining the status and international prominence of Tokyo Fashion Week.”

Similarly, the Dressedundressed designer also highlighted this idea of wider industry support. Kitazawa concluded: “We expect an expansion that serves as a gateway to the international stage and encourages diverse brand participation. We believe that it will provide more opportunities for Japan’s fashion industry to communicate with the world. To achieve this, we believe it is important for each brand, including our own, to present outstanding work.”