JAPAN: Japan kicks off a week long fashion show highlighting its up-and-coming young designers

Record ID: 197968

  • Title: JAPAN: Japan kicks off a week long fashion show highlighting its up-and-coming young designers
  • Date: 16th March 2007
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF 'MERCIBEAUCOUP' 07/08 AUTUMN/WINTER COLLECTION FASHION COLLECTION 'MERCIBEAUCOUP' COLLECTION FINALE
  • Embargoed: 31st March 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Fashion
  • Reuters ID: LVA751EHM3GGQ3XPX1C88RM5DX2A
  • Story Text: Japan kicked off a massive one week long fashion show extravaganza on Monday (March 12) with many young and upcoming Japanese designers scrambling to put together their latest 07/08 autumn/winter collection.
    One of the first designers to hit the catwalk this season was Yuko Murata of 'io yukomura"Ta' (Editors note: lower case and punctuation).
    Strong natural colours, silk-cotton, fur and glossy polka-dots dominated her loose fitting gowns and pantalons. Her trademark military cuts and maxi-coats were mixed with white sneakers to give it a more casual look. While flowing gowns and layed tulle rendered the more masculine tailored cuts a feminine grace.
    Japan's fashion industry began to stage a twice annual fashion week two years ago in a joint effort with the government -- hoping to dress up Tokyo's image as a global style capital.
    Murata is a regular at these shows but says the pressure of getting her collection ready falls heavily on the young designers.
    "We want to be among the first to release our collection, and it's also a good thing that the people that come to the shows come with their specific goals, but for us, designers, the preparation time was pretty short and difficult," Yuko Murata told Reuters backstage on Monday (March 12).
    Tokyo - known for its trendy youth culture, brand obsessions and abundance of cutting-edge design talent - has long lagged behind Paris and New York, when it comes to fashion business and recognition.
    But Murata says there remains a large pool of unexplored talent in Japan.
    "(Designers) have a freer hand at styling clothes in Japan. On the other hand, it also means that we probably don't have much consideration for how and when the clothes are worn. But I think we still have a lot of potential within us," she added.
    Japan is among the world's biggest fashion markets, with 88 billion U.S. dollars spent on apparel in 2003, according to government figures.
    While there is a wealth of home-grown talent of the likes of Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake that reigned strong in the 1970s and 80s, the younger generation of Japanese designers are still struggling for recognition.
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