Fashion to hit Tokyo's runways

Japan's passion for fashion will be on display at the upcoming Fashion Week in Tokyo 2010, which will display some of the most innovative and eye-catching designs for the autumn and winter collections.

Bringing together fashion-related events that start as early as the Kobe Collection 2010 Spring/Summer in Tokyo on March 13 and last to the Japan Fashion Week Fair at the Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku, which runs until March 31, the highlights will be the Tokyo Collection week and the JFW Designers' Exhibition.

"This really is the showcase opportunity for all the designers here in Japan, across east Asia and beyond to get their work seen by the market," Kaoru Imajo, a spokesman for the event, told Relaxnews.

Japan has produced some of the world's most famous designers - from Issey Miyake to Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto and Hanae Mori - and the Japan Fashion Week Organization is aiming to build on their reputations for a new generation of fashion geniuses at the same time as enhancing Tokyo's reputation as the center of the fashion business in Asia.

While technically an all-industry affair, numerous events and tie-ins will take place across the city, with the catwalk displays at Tokyo Midtown even being shown live on a jumbo television screen outside the venue.

Organizers are expecting as many as 20,000 people to attend the official events, with many of the buyers coming from Asia and Europe.

Some 46 brands are taking part in the Tokyo Collection Week, which runs for four days from March 23, while a further eight maisons will be showing their works as part of the concurrent JFW Designers' Exhibition from.

Specialist events will include symposiums on developing a new generation of young designers, knitwear, a charity photo shoot and a dedicated Asian Designers' Collection.

For one week from March 22, the Pola Museum in Ginza will hold an exhibition highlighting the last 50 years of fashion through the pages of High Fashion magazine, while the Hotel Claska in Meguro will stage a flea market from 7 pm on March 26 with well-known names from the industry, such as Mikio Sakabe, scheduled to sell both new and personal items at vastly reduced prices.

ENDS

Dates: March 22 to March 26

Venues: Tokyo Midtown Hall and Academy Hills, both in the Roppongi district, as well as venues throughout the city.

Further information: www.jfw.jp