Fashion: Soft touch

The 2002-2003 Autumn & Winter Tokyo Collections revealed the dainty side of Japan's top designers

Following last September's terror attacks in the US, fashion designers were subdued in their spring-summer collections. This year, Japan's designers are letting their creative juices flow for the 2002-2003 autumn-winter look with the emphasis on casual romance, modern punk and light classical. What does all that mean? Metropolis reporters spent three weeks at the Tokyo collections to find out.

	Wonderful World
No matter what's going on in the world, Isao Kaneko always looks on the bright side with his Wonderful World label. In tribute to the resilience of the US following the terrorist attacks, his show opened with curly-haired models, clad in flashy Stars and Stripes outfits and holding teddy bears. Then came the Kaneko signature clothes—colorful layered skirts, lace petticoats, camisoles, printed knit tops and casual pants.The finale was a billowing pink wedding dress. As usual, Kaneko's legions of women fans in the audience attended the show dressed in his cute outfits as if they had just come from a costume call for Little Bo Peep.

	Yukiko Hanai

	Hiroko Koshino

Yuki Torii

With the theme "Masculine Heart," Mika Kinoshita created a casual yet tailored collection of white cotton shirts, cropped peacoats and slim velvet pants for her Io Sono Io label. Sheer white, sandy beige, army green and dark browns dominated the collection. Feminine touches to the mostly masculine look came in the form of ruffled plackets, fringed jackets and hot pants. With black-and-white herringbone and plaid knits rounding out the show, Io Sono Io evoked a season of cozy nights spent relaxing in front of a roaring fire.

	Kyoko Higa

	Chinami Kamishima

Akiko Ogawa titled her collection for a Primary"Frosty Flowers." At times, it looked more like a spring-summer collection than autumn-winter, with materials such as silk and chiffon bringing a brightness and a softness to a normally cold sentimental season. Symmetrical skirts and chiffon or silk dresses were worn with ankle-strap, heeled shoes and pants were adorned with a silk ribbon at the waist. Sharp black suits were combined with blue-striped frilled shirts. A washed antique touch corduroy jacket with white silk frilled skirt was an unusual combination, but added a fresh look to the season's gray image.
	Akiko Ogawa

Punkish super-bitch-style designer Mug sent out her girls-with-attitude staring through heavy '80s fringes in laddered stockings and baggy leather boots for her G.V.G.V. label. Layers were key here and were comprised of oversized knits, frayed denim, string vests, checked shirts, and the brand's skull-and-crossbones T-shirts in night-shirt size. A spectacular speckled-knit dress with matching drag-in-the-dirt scarf, three-quarter-(calf)-length cardigan and Statue of Liberty-design pullover showed off Mug's flair for knitwear. The US tribute continued with New York skyscraper print sweaters and a Stars-and-Stripes stadium jacket. With plenty of black and attitude to spare, this collection was perfect for Tokyo's punk rocker set.

	Royal Chie

Formerly of the Issei Sports family and a long-time fashion veteran, Tsumori Chisato launched her collection with a tribute to the wayward bands of gypsies and a nod to sleek, chic lines of early 20th-century fashion. Light and airy peasant blouses sported a cacophonous patchwork of colors and patterns, including checks, polka dots and stripes. Although loose cuts and flows characterized the clothes, wide belts accentuating narrow hips gave '60s and '70s style a modern twist, with poignant turbans and ropes adding that extra oomph. But peasant chic switched to dapper flapper as Chisato's dramatic winter line was unveiled. Masculine retro suits in gray, with pinstripes and tails, were softened with A-line cuts or low belts, while the evening wear alluded to the glamour of cinema, with opened backed dresses and white fur capes.

	T.H.D. La maison

	Koji Aruga

Spoken Words Project

"Dec 12" was the strangely titled theme of Masahiro Tobita's collection for Spoken Words Project. According to Tobita, he wandered in a forest with a hangover on that day last year. He was inspired by surrounding trees, and reflected what he felt at that time in this season's collection. Basic black tight pants and long boots were combined with checked long sleeves or border shirts having matted colors. Other outfits were flimsy white one-piece dresses with light gray leaf and floral motifs that were all drawn by pencil. "The gray of the forest was the gray of pencils," explained Tobita, who originally started Spoken Words Project in 1991, when he was still an art school student, as a project aimed at expressing a variety of expressions. In 1996, Tobita turned the project into a fashion brand.

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	Kyoichi Fujita

	Yu Homma

	Frapbois

	NAiyMA

Garde Collective's chirpy chief designer Kikuko Maki took her casual couture project into darker, riskier territory with this collection. Exaggerated hourglass silhouettes of black and gray dresses that snugly wrapped around the shoulders and waist, the pinpoint positioning of occasional slashes and society ladies' faux fur stoles all suggested a more mature and elegant mood. A screaming pink paisley print on leggings and clingy tops, and cleverly constructed pleated and layered skirts and dresses were stand-out pieces. A Central American influence emerged through crocheted ponchos, embroidered cactus motifs, and fringing on cowboy shirts and jackets. With a conspicuous absence of anything resembling a winter coat, Maki proposed wrapping up warm in generous sweats with peaked hoods to shield the eyes of her glamorous girls.

	Kohshin Sato

Astro Boy

Astro Boy

Hiroaki Ohya loves the cartoon character Astro Boy so much he named his brand after him, and almost all the models' hairstyles were arranged in Astro Boy style. The show was more like an art performance, as models with black trainers and pants and futuristic white outfits featuring Astro Boy silhouettes pranced around the stage.

	M.Y.K Noriko

A bare room painted in white and carpeted by a green mat with artificial flowers sprouting here and there hosted Hiroko Ito's Hisui show, whose most prominent features were billowing pants with prints on rich shades of red, blue and purple. Printed geometric and linear patterns featured strongly, gracing ankle-length sarongs, with sportive enamel white footwear usually in accompaniment with the above. Quasi-transparent cloaks and blouses covered the upper body, and button-downs and cardigans shone in the red-to-blue spectrum, as well as the odd lime green and darker piece.

ato

Japanese menswear house ato returned triumphant from Paris with only their second show another great success. Combined with the ato staple of very fitted black jackets were super-wide hipster pants. Mixed in among the black on black on black were pinks, mustard yellows, camels and khakis. MA-1 bomber jackets with velvet stripe details, nylon shirt/blouson and vest/blouson hybrids and smoking gowns made this the loosest-fitting ato collection to date.

	UNDERCOVER

Photos and text by Chris Betros, Stuart Braun, Georgia Jacobs Takanori Kobayashi, Tama Miyake, Carlo Niederberger, Eri Takahashi and Martin Webb.

Photo credit: staff

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