One the second day of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, dressedundressed presented their 5th collection at Hikarie in Shibuya.
This season the designer duo Takeshi and Emiko elaborated on their minimal-gothness with a Japanese touch: sharp tailoring seen in the Kimono sleeved jackets, Hakama (Japanese traditional athletic wear) pants, and Judo quilting pullovers.
Gray looked fresher than ever when a model in Kare-sansui-esque textured sweatshirt walked down the runway- the wavy textile is inspired by Japanese traditional rock gardens. A strong contrast to the chaotic city scape of modern Tokyo outside which we channeled that with some visual noise at the end of the runway. For our second collaboration with dressedundressed, we created a live digital projection. The interactive program reacted to the motion on the runway by creating graphical lines and patterns that looked like the models auras.
http://dressedundressed.com
After traveling around New York, London, Milan and Paris, the fashion wind is blowing into the east-TOKYO FASHION WEEK BABY!
Tokyo collections is really its own thing and hit or miss, there are always a few brands that strike a balance on the edge where high fashion meets edgy street style, and this season we are fortunate to welcome red hot rookie 99%is-.
Flash back to last season when we discovered his bold black and white patterns and cute models with silver heads courtesy of genius hair dresser Katsuya Kamo (who takes it up another level this season). The brand’s Korean born Tokyo based designer Bajowoo just graduated with a masters in fashion design and this collection showed he surely is still engaged with the hardcore punk spirit, but with a new obsession-sophistication.
The towering ‘A’ for anarchy sculpture shadowed the runway models strutting in a sea of biker jackets and black studs. Sleek leather, shimmering zippers embossed with the % motif, lurex knits and silk suits with original textiles were added to the stud-it-all looks. The second covetable collaboration with Mackintosh featured more original details like a leather gun-flap, rubber material, and bondage hardware.
“The brand’s fan surely expected for studs looks as they are pretty eye-catching, but I wanted to show a different vision with new textures” Bajowoo told us- a showstopper with cool spiky hair and perfect punk black eye make-up. Maybe he wins for best audience too!
http://99percentis.com
The changes of the season are breathing new air into the Tokyo retail scene too. One of the most glossy and gorgeous boutiques Restir moved to a quiet little side street a few steps from its old haunt at Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi.
The minimalist concrete space offers everything we expect- its just as intimidating as the last incarnation!
Going up and down the staircases we admired the black and white photography by legendary lensman Kishin Shinoyama (his office is on the top floor!), and then got lost in the paradise of racks and hidden closets that came into view. All of our prestigious friends like Saint Laurent, Lanvin, Valentino, Givenchy, Giambattista Valli, and more up-and-coming names including Fausto Puglisi, Ashish, J.W.Anderson, Each×Other and Atto (Paco Rabanne creative director Julien Dossena’s other child) are illuminated by a luxurious marble floor.
Well the space-just next to Restir’s Surf Side concept store and Le Ciel Bleu- is just too large to navigate on your own, so ask the pretty model-esque boys and girls to lead you around by the hand.
http://www.restir.com
The l’enfant terrible of contemporary art scene, Ellie from Chim↑Pom released her first photo book entitled Ellie Is Sick All The Time.
The 800 page tome photo book includes pictures shot by legendary lensman Kishin Shinoyama (high profile!-no surprise she’s been friends with Makoto Aida since high school) and Leslie Kee at her scandalous “Love is over” concept wedding party in January. See pictures of cut-off diamond ring fingers (ew!) and more at Hiromi Yoshii Gallery in Roppongi until March 15th.
We don’t exactly remember when we met her in Shinjuku’s gay district Ni-chome. Or why we ended up running and dancing on taxi roofs (do not try this at home). Ellie’s still running full speed- multi-tasking as an artist, Tokyo fashion scene “it” girl, and now a mad housewife!
http://chimpom.jp
Tucked away on a little back street that only locals know, ICON, a select shop housed…in an old house…is hosting three events; Japanese brand John Lawrence Sullivan’s Spring/Summer 2014 popup shop featuring artsy graphics by Ahonen Lamberg, a photo exhibition by super handsome male model-slash-emerging photographer Sen Mitsuji, and a tasty chocolate stand that launches the new coffee shop Garage (guess which part of the house it is located in).
The original chocolate collaborations available exclusively at ICON feature packages by Paris based art director Anna Aiko Roche’s 60′s kitsch textile inspiration, trendy Tokyo-Brooklyn hair salon Oversea’s portrait prints, our besties Tokyo Dandy’s bloody heart art work, pretty princess Tenko’s drawing of a character called Cyrillic, and, ahem, Erotyka Tokyo Paris’ typography (that’s us baby!).
Chocolates are available in limited numbers so pick them up before White Day on March 14th (the girls give the boys choco on this day in Japan. We support blatant commercialism when its linked to chocolate and love).
http://icontky.com
