Everything You Need To Know For Tokyo Fashion Week

by Yumi Matsuo · March 14, 2012

Last year, in the face of the country's disastrous earthquake, Japan cancelled it's fashion week for the season. Returning this season after the year hiatus, there is much anticipation for the 12th annual Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo. Here is everything you need to know to prepare for Japan Fashion Week.

Japan has long been known for being a step ahead of the rest of the world in terms of cutting-edge fashion, and with a full two years to prepare, this year should be one for the books.

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Quick Facts

Date: Sunday, March 18th to Saturday, March 24th

Official Website: http://www.tokyo-mbfashionweek.com/en

Twitter Handle: @JFW_Official

Hashtag: #JFW

Venue: Tokyo Midtown

The venue is located in the heart of Tokyo's party district. Still relatively new, the complex includes offices, boutique shops, high-end restaurants, museums parks, and the Ritz Carlton hotel and residence.

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Highly Anticipated Shows & Designers

Hiroko Koshino: March 19th @ 7:00pm

As an iconic fashion designer in Japan, Hiroko Koshino's collection is one of the most highly anticipated shows every year. She has been in the industry for a long time, having opened her first haute couture store over 40 years ago in Tokyo.

She was the first Japanese designer to participate in the Alta Moda in Rome back in 1978. Since then, she has exhibited her talent both in the fashion and art world, and has taught many up-and-coming designers, including her daughter Yuma Koshino who worked for her team in 1997.

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Yuma Koshino: March 22nd @ 2:00pm

Having only established her collection in 2005, Yuma Koshino is still a newbie to Japan Fashion Week. That is, however, no reason to look past her this year as she has a lot of experience under her belt. She has worked for KENZO in Paris, Michiko Japan, and her latest partnership was with her mother, Hiroko Koshino. She established her women's wear collection under Hiroko Koshino's company and is now expanding her brand in major department stores around Japan.

Johan Ku: March 23rd @ 2:00pm

In last season's Tokyo fashion week, Johan Ku had one of the most original runway shows that made his clothes shine beyond the rest. His break through design combined artificial fiber with natural materials like linen and bamboo to make the collection glow in the dark. He is known to test the limits between fashion and art, and this year will not be any different.

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Yasutoshi Ezumi: March 20th @ 9:00pm

Yasutoshi Ezumi went abroad and studied the fashion industry before coming back to Japan to launch his own brand. He studied at Central Saint Martins in London and worked as an assistant at Alexander McQueen, and then as a knitwear designer at Aquascutum. Basing his knowledge of fashion trends from all over the world, his high-end knitwear brings an interesting mix to the traditional Japanese fashion.

Go HERE for the full list of shows.

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Blogs to Follow

Japanese Streets: For the last 10 years, Japanese Streets has been the main Japanese fashion blog that is written in English and it will once again be covering Japan Fashion Week this season. They shoot full collections of most of the shows and captures some behind the scene moments of the models and designers.

Tokyo Fashion Diaries: Originally from Washington, USA, 28 year-old Misha Janette has made quite the name for herself in Japan. As a Tokyo-based fashion blogger, she photographs Japanese street style and covers fashion events around the city. Her blog is translated in Chinese, Japanese, and English. She will definitely be mingling with the right crowd (like Anna Wintour) at the shows this season so it will be worth following her on twitter @FashionTubuyaki.