End: 24 Mar 2013
Location: Shibuya Hikarie Hikarie
Address: Tokyo, Japan
Japan Fashion Week got off to a promising start over the weekend. From a phoenix-themed collection to another with touches of traditional Mongolian decorations, Japanese designers are setting sights firmly on Asia and its huge market.
The fashion extravaganza showcasing the autumn and winter collections of 2013/14 kicked off at the weekend with Japanese brands taking the stage on Monday. One of them was Masanori Morikawa and his self-directed label, Christian Dada.
Morikawa known for his designs for Lady Gaga's "Born This Way Ball" tour in 2012, including the unforgettable pink dress reminiscent of an origami crane.
For this season, he turned to Asia for inspiration with an edgy, androgynous collection titled "Feng Huang" (凤凰) which is Chinese for the mythical bird phoenix, pairing long, loose pants with richly embroidered lace on shirt sleeves for men and women.
Leather pants and jackets mingled with down-paneled trousers and shirts in plain, solid colors of black, white, red, blue and gold, which Morikawa said represented the nature of the phoenix.
There's also the idea that the phoenix contains within itself both the male and the female, so we took this concept of fusion for the collection.
On Sunday, Mongolian designer Ariunaa Surenjav mixed modern designs for her label Ariunnaa Suri with traditional raised forms on the shoulders and bunched sleeves.
That part of the clothing design where the material goes up on the shoulder comes from the tradition in old Mongolia, where the local people who were noble and respected had that design.
Although Morikawa said taking a Chinese title for the collection was just a reference to Chinese mythology and not a nod to the huge potential Chinese market, other designers were more open about their goals.
Conny Groenewegen, a Dutch designer who led off the runway on Sunday with clothing heavily influenced by Japanese designers, said her ambitions in Asia do not end with Japan.
"I would be very much interested to visit Shanghai and present my work over there, because I think that it is moving very fast," she said. "It's like a big youth culture over there and it has also a big, very rich history."
Although growth in China slowed last year, the country's consumers account for a large component of the global luxury market which is expected to $280 billion.
Japan Fashion Week continues until March 24 with global brands like Vivienne Tam and Hiroko Koshino set to take part.
