Tokyo fashion shines on rue Saint-Honoré

By virtue of globalization, everything becomes extra competitive. Even in the fashion-crazed country of Japan, building a fashion career gets more challenging.

While talent is the major reason of why designers make it, there are myriad elements that contribute to their success. Much to how Isabella Blow championed Alexander McQueen, support from editors, stylists, stockists and celebrities can prove to be crucial to a designer’s rise. Basically, exposure is the key.

More influential Japanese designers like Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto show in Paris in order to establish a strong brand. Today, timely “government intervention” helps young designers follow the same route.

With help from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the work of 12 Japanese designers traveled abroad through a project called Tokyoeye. Its aim was to promote Japanese “coolture,” more specifically fashion, on the world’s stage. The ambitious project commenced in Shanghai and ended in Paris just after Fashion Week.

The closing event in Paris was the highlight of Tokyoeye. From February to March, young Japanese brands like Aula Aila, Valentine’s High, Galaxxxy in Hi-Fi, Sachio Kawasaki, DRESSCAMP, Liz Lisa, Phenomenon, Duck Digger displayed their works at Colette — a boutique known as a bastion of cool.

The exhibit created much-needed buzz and served as an ideal venue for sophisticated consumers to assess work from fresh talent. An event at Tranoï Showroom geared to fashion buyers and merchandisers followed. This generated business for the young designers who have struck deals with the likes of Harvey Nichols, Bloomingdales and Club 21.

The increased visibility is great for the designers, most of who aspire to build a global career, but is also educational for the audience. First, it allows the industry to become more experimental with the buys and fosters mutually beneficial links. Second, it shapes how Japanese designers are viewed internationally.

Japanese fashion is often pigeonholed into two schools: over-the-top cute or silent restraint. But the reality is that designers offer much more variety based on their own aesthetic and education. The exposure that Tokyoeye generates puts new talent to the forefront, which in turn redefines what Japanese fashion is.

While Tokyoeye is a response to the changing sphere of the fashion industry, this project also shows the importance Japan places on its artistic talent. When there are no stylists or editors to champion local work, there’s the trusty bureaucracy to fill the gap.