Category: Tokyo Fashion Week SS 2015

When it comes to the New Years, Tokyo is probably one of the few global metropolises that instead of attracting revelries and jacked-up parties, invites calm and serenity. It’s a major turn around from the usual “never sleeps” mentality of 24 hour goings-on and perhaps hard to imagine, but the end of the year here is seriously a ghost town (New Years is more of a religious holiday spent in the countryside with family). It’s a calm you can never experience any other time of year.

But the best thing about this time of year is a few days off of work, which means it’s one of the top vacation holidays- and one of the few times you’ll see the average Tokyoite decked out in bright colors as they bask in tropical sunlight. Yoshio Kubo’s ladies line “Muller of Yoshio Kubo” was a resort-worthy collection down to every rule: color, feathers, robes, sandals and satchels. The silhouettes are very “Japanese”, though, as you’ll notice-this is how resort is done.

日本の年末年始はすごく伝統的な雰囲気が街中に広がる。”年中無休”や”24時間営業”が溢れてる”眠らない街東京”もお正月は少し時間がゆっくり進むような気がする。

連休のこの時期は旅行に行く人も多いよね。そんなブライトでハッピーな気分にさせてくれるのはこのMuller of Yoshio Kubo 2015SS!

There once was a boy. He went to an ivy league college, was recruited into a top company, and he had a good wife. But one day he woke up to find his company going under and divorced from his wife. So he left his house on a trip as a man without purpose.

The one thing he had was a Haiku from his childhood.

While he was overcome by poverty and bad health, he took the thoughts he had while on his personal exile to write poetry that would live on forever. This person is real, and his name is Ozaki Hosai, one of the most famous Haiku poets in history (1885-1926).

Written by…’s 2015 SS menswear collection tells the life story of Ozaki. Is this genius, or is this genius?

名門大学卒業、大手企業就職、優しい妻。と、エリート街道を幸せに進んでいたはずが、自身が社会不適合だと自覚し、妻とも別れて、ある日突然放浪の旅に出た男がいた。

そんな彼に残されたのは少年時代から続けていた俳句。

貧困に苦しみ病魔に襲われ、孤独な旅の中で生まれた”想い”をのせた俳句を死ぬまで詠み続けた男、それは今も世に名を残す俳人、”尾崎放哉”。

そんな彼の人生に寄り添うコレクションを発表したのはwritten by 2015ss。

なんと、天才的…

People ask where I get my information from, and I tell the truth; it’s either dumb luck or the best stuff just finds me. It’s impossible to see every exhibit of every brand of every season, and it’s often a chance game to decide where to spend my time (there’s only 24 hours in day and I have to, you know, work). For Satoko Ozawa, I drew a big Question Mark because I didn’t recognize her name. But a photo thrown up on Instagram of one of her dresses for 2015 SS showed me that she had made on of the prettiest dresses in all the land. I needed to go shake her hand (and try on that dress!). This ain’t kawaii, this is edge with a deep cut.

どこから情報を得ているの？って聞かれる事よくある。答えは、”運に恵まれている”。数えきれないブランドがある東京で（ドメスティック、インポート含めて）、毎シーズン、全てのブランドの展示会に行くなんて物理的に無理。そして、限られた時間の中で、何に時間を割くのかというのは、ミーシャの生活を左右する大きなもの。(だって一日は24時間。やらなきゃいけない仕事はやまほどあるのぉ) サトコオザワという名前をきいたとき、クエスチョンマークがうかんだ。でも、彼女の2015ssのドレスをインスタで見た時、なんて素晴らしいドレス！ておもった。これはぜひ彼女に会いたい！(そして、これを試着したい！)と、速急に展示会に足を運んだ。

Cinderella dressed in yellow,
Went upstairs to kiss a fellow
Made a mistake and wore gingham velvet in July
No doctors gonna go near that, bae

Going through the commercial exhibitions sometimes reads like a broken record: skirt, pants, jacket, repeat. It’s tough for a brand for convey their message to people like me, who see a hundred collections every six months. Skirt, pants, jacket, repeat.  And just like a highway motel manager,  I’ve seen it ALL. Can a rack-ready collection really wow?

The PR01 Tradeshow is one of the best in Tokyo for fashion, and TELLSIT 2015 spring summer was the first collection to bring some VA-VA-VOOM to the room. Laser cutting its designs to the breaking point (the ripping point?), the brand experimented with a fairy tale and a side of tough love.

ファッションに置けるシンデレラ症…なんだか、あえてロマンを感じているかも。ヒールはいて、おしゃれをして、現代フェアリーテールのプリンセスの私達は何を追いかけているのだろう？シャドウでもそれは夢に違いない。

…と勝手にこのブランドTELLSITの春夏コレクションのテーマコンセプトを妄想している。

コマーシャル系のブランドの展示会は年々さほど変わらないの。スカート、パンツ、ワンピ。次のシーズンもスカート、パンツ、ワンピ。しかもトレンドを把握していると、それも行く前からもデザインの想像もできるくらい定着している。刺激感が薄いわ。

その中、今回はすごくいいウェアブルなコレクションに出会いました。レーザーカッティングの複雑なデザインに惹かれ、それから現実的にファンタジーなワードロブへ…