I have a true admiration for Japanese and in fact Asian fashion mainly due to New York designers of Asian descent such as Derek Lam, Vera Wang, Anna Sui, and Philip Lim but also because of the street style blogs, especially Style Arena about Tokyo street style. This is the reason why I start browsing for asian designers and started with Japan Fashion Week as a fashion week usually gathers the best designers. Thirty-six fashion houses presented their 2008 spring/summer collections.
Junya Tashiro (born in 1974) is a Japanese fashion designer based in Fukuoka City who creates women's clothes, mainly dresses and skirts, as well as handbags and fashion accessories. He often uses natural fabrics such as linen and a basic, earthy palette. Visit his website www.junyatashiro.com for a glance at his works gallery.
Hiroko Koshino (born 1937, Osaka) is an established designer based in Japan, a graduate of Bunka Fashion College (1961). At the time she was a colleague of Yohji Yamamoto and Kenzo Takada, all future Tokyo fashion leaders. She showed in Paris and at Alta Moda in Rome. Her designs are based on the traditional clothing, the Japanese kimono, following its aesthetics of volume and layering. Her daughter, Yuma, followed her footsteps and this year has presented her signature spring/summer collection at Tokyo fashion Week.
Other very interesting designers that showed at Tokyo Fashion Week were Kohji Annoura, Naomi Yamamoto, Norio Surikabe and Toru Kato among many others. For more on this matter check the official Japan Fashion Week website www.jfw.jp.
