Japan Fashion Week 2012

Tokyo Mercedes Benz Fashion Week (日本ファッション·ウィーク 2012) has been going on the past week, and it's showcasing cutting edge fashion from upcoming Japanese designers.

It feels great to see more Asian faces in print ads and strutting on the catwalk. Fashion and beauty should be equally represented of all ethnicities. Thanks to YouTube, Vogue, and the growing economic power of China it is time to acknowledge the Asian consumer. My favorite new Japanese or mixed Japanese models are Tao Okamoto, Juliana Imai and Saki Asamiya. Tao and Juliana have been on the catwalk for several years while Saki is new to the scene.

TAO OKAMOTO

(courtesy of fashiontv on Youtube)

SAKI ASAMIYA

(courtesy of fashiontv on Youtube)

Not sure the reasoning behind the Backstreet Boys soundtrack, lol. Maybe to remind us 20 somethings about being teenagers in the 90s?

JULIANA IMAI

(courtesy of entrevista on Youtube)

I love this video because she keeps repeating "VOGEEE (Vogue)" over and over, and Portuguese coming from an Asian face is sexy!

Of course we cannot forget the importance of Japanese men's fashion either! Below are two examples of the wild variety of aesthetics from Japanese designers. Many people in fashion are familiar with Yohji Yamamoto's contribution to getting Japan on the world's fashion radar. In my view, his designs are provocative, historical, and universal. I can see where he incorporated bits of Japanese samurai hair styles, men's kimino style jacket, and Indian jodphur pants. To be honest, I LOVE creativity but I am not that brave.

YOHJI YAMAMOTO

(courtesy of ELLETVFASHION)

Then you have the more modern, Eurodisco and British rocker prep from DressCamp headed by designer Toshikazu Iwaya. I like some of the tight fits, and the boots. I enjoyed how the pants appeared like running water when walking down the runway.

(courtesy of senatusmag on Youtube)

Happy fashion watching!