There is a fashion week to me that is better than any mainstream fashion week on the planet. The age of new design and forward thinking is not here; it is gone, but at least there is a bit of hope when it comes to Rakuten Fashion Week. This week in Tokyo, which also has prizes and other rewards for joining, is not really talked about as much as it should be. With some brands and creatives that, to my eyes, are way more skilled and pleasurable to the eye than what we see in London, Milan, Paris, and New York. Hell, maybe even now we need to add Tokyo as one of the mainstream cities in fashion. Japanese fashion has been the best ever in the past 20 years, and a lot of creatives eye Japan for their youth culture and their style. Even now in America, a lot of the youth, including me, look at Japanese fashion for inspiration. The unique colors, silhouettes, and overall telos of these brands just seem more exciting than their Parisian, London, New Yorkian, and Milanese counterparts. Japan just seems to do it better over and over again. Even in Paris, the Japanese always show out. More than Chanel, more than Dior, more than Givenchy, or McQueen, or any brand that has had a foothold in Paris and is too big to just let go. Sacai, Ssstein, Kolor, Anrealage, Soshiotsuki, AURALEE, Sulvam, UJOH, MiharaYasuhiro, and others simply do it better. Garment construction, material, patterning—even sometimes outdoing presentations of big brands like YSL just because they are more creative. What happened to these huge houses??????? Anyway, I wanted to just share some of the more interesting things that I saw at Rakuten Fashion Week and how better, just in general, it is.
Rakuten Fashion Weeks Website:
There is very little special about Rakuten's website. They have the usual stuff like showing who showed at their fashion week, information about the brand, archives, and stuff like that. But the UI and actual feel of the website are so smooth. I can easily glide through the brands and see what catches my eye with ease. Almost like window shopping. The website is also not clunky like Paris Fashion Weeks. You would assume that the week with the most press coverage would have at least a good website, right? The websites of these other fashion weeks have extremely cluttered websites as well. The photos are everywhere, the formatting is off, and the screen is too wide. It is like I am looking at a huge rock but can only see 30% of it at a time. Whereas on the Rakuten Fashion Week website at least I am able to see 90% of that rock. Of course it still feels wide, but it is not entirely as in your face. Rakuten’s website gets better when you get to the actual profiles of the brands. The brands information on their designated page is small. It is not blasting a video in your face and making you see the most banal, ugly, vapid, and egregious thing you have ever seen in your life. You see a cute white screen with a simple font, a neat layout, and easy clickable buttons and links. I hate being overwhelmed and feeling alienated, and the mainstream fashion weeks just do that to me on their websites.
The clothes:
The clothes at Rakuten Fashion Week are not something anyone should just disregard. I am not saying that they are disregarded either, but in the grand scheme of the industry, the brands that are at Rakuten fashion week are just small brands that do not have the same backing as the bigger brands at Paris. But I believe that the clothes have extreme similarities, and even one up a lot of the big four cities. I will be showcasing some of my favorite brands that I have been looking at for awhile now.
Wildfraulein
First up is Wildfraulein. Wildfraulin is a brand that comes from the mind of Roop Shimura. In 2014 he established this brand, and now he even has four other brands as well (I do not know how he can keep up). With garments from the recent collection that abuse elongation of the form and disheveled looks while also keeping in mind basic simple tailoring. The materials range from denim to leather and polyesters and synthetics. I do think that this brand does have a lot of work to do as it is still in its adolescence, but there is enough work here to me that makes Wildfraulein one of the better brands at Rakuten Fashion Week. But it is a lot more pleasing to look at than Chanel. That is just my opinion. As Roop used to be a painter and his father was an architect, he has a lot of inspiration when it comes to silhouettes and also the patterns of fabric on his clothes. A lot of the graphics and embroidery on the clothes that are made come from him as well.
S/S 2025
support surface
https://www.supportsurface.jp/en/
The next brand that I really love, and that I believe that deserves a spot in Paris is support surface. I have been in love with Support Surface for around a year and a half now. I was in high school when I found them, and now I am a sophomore in college. Every year support surface has shown out and has been bringing classic women's looks but with a divine edge that always leaves me drooling from afar. The main draw that support surface has is with their clothes that embrace the body and attenuate the curves with added cloth and dimension to the figure, it almost makes the body balloon-like but also keeping form. It surprises me that there is not more talk about support surface in the fashion industry. The designer behind the brand is Norio Surikabe, who was born in the Gifu prefecture in the Chubu region of Honshu. He then moved to Italy in 1989 to work for Romeo Gigli. After that, he became the chief designer at NN Studio at 10 Como Corso in 1992. He then worked as a consultant at Alberto Biani in 1997. Then, from there, in 1999, he started a support surface. After that, in 2003, he came back to Japan to focus on the brand. He then, in 2006, had a collection in Tokyo, then one year later made support surface co. My favorite collection of his is S/S 2009, which has the typical support surface silhouettes with airy flowy designs but also has that bulk that pushes out the body with calf-high pants. The collection is primarily made of silks and tailored chinos and cotton linen pants. I would love it in black, but you know you can’t always get what you want.
S/S 2025
S/S 2009
Fetico
Fetico is run by Emi Funayama, who is from Esmod in Tokyo. She later created her brand Fetico, which is a play on the word fetish. In her collections, she works with local Japanese textile manufacturers to make her garments that reference vintage silhouettes and styles. Primarily using aspects of gothic and black clothing mixed with laces and lingerie, this overwhelming in-your-face sex appeal kind of throws a viewer off but keeps the eyes locked onto the garments as well. Of course this brand still has a lot of room to grow and develop, but I think that we should look at Fetico as it could be the next brand at Paris Fashion Week.
S/S 2023
A/W 2023
Mint Designs
Mint Designs is a team of two people, Hokuto Katsui and Nao Yagi, who both graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2001. The power duo started the brand the same year and had their first collection in Tokyo in 2003. Now, after 21 years of designing, they are sitting professors at Osaka Seiki University.
To me, Mint Design is a great brand. They have a long history of design to back it up too. Although they do not make the best stuff all the time, they are for sure a brand that can possibly lurch forward into London or even New York Fashion Week. Standout seasons to me were their first season in 2001 with their 2002 A/W collection. Their pretty recent A/W 2022 collection as well. Really anything that they have done is above par and has actual good design. Maybe it is also because of the photos as well and how good the photographers are, but overall the brand has amazing presentation and good representation of actual true design.
A/W 2002
A/W 2022
Stein
A brand that I knew would eventually go to Paris was Ssstein. Stein is a brand that is directed by Kiichiro Asakawa. In 2016, he started the brand and quickly gained traction. He periodically showed and then went to Tokyo for two collections. Stein is a relatively small brand as of now, but they frequently sell out when it comes to clothes. The minimalist, but also beautifully made garments really are something that I enjoy. The clothing is just better. I also like the way Stein presents their clothes as well.
A/W 2023
