It’s not possible to overstate the influence Japan has on global fashion. The island nation with a population of about 127 million people is the native home to many of the most important designers to ever cut a pattern (Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçon, Jun Takahashi of Undercover, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Junya Watanabe, Takahiro Miyashita of The Soloist—the list goes on), as well as a litany of streetwear brands that have shaped generations of young style upstarts (A Bathing Ape, Visvim, Neighborhood, WTAPS, Uniform Experiment, to name a few). Styles are born and perfected on the streets of Tokyo, and the disciples of fashion there shop and dress with a commitment that you just don't see in New York, London, Paris or Milan. (There's a reason why Harajuku and Shibuya remain essential stops on "inspiration trips" for all your favorite creative directors.)
But unlike other fashion capitals, Fashion Week in Tokyo is a relatively low-key affair—a week of calm and orderly runway shows with little fuss over what the attendees are wearing or who's sitting in the front row. Maybe Tokyo’s nonchalant attitude towards fashion week has something to do with the fact that there’s better street style popping off any given day on Harajuku Street than there is during the biannual circus that comes to other cities during show times. Or maybe it’s that all of the aforementioned design legends from Japan choose to present their collections elsewhere, mostly in Paris, leaving Tokyo feeling a bit pallid in comparison.
That said, Tokyo Fashion Week is not to be written off. This season’s shows, which came to an end this past Saturday, were kicked off by guest-designer Umit Benan, who brought a strong Wild West vibe to the East, complete with a desert catwalk punctuated by towering cacti. And if you’re looking for Japan’s Next Big Thing, you just might have found it in the label Bed J.W. Ford (pronounced "Bedford") by designer Shinpei Yamagishi and visual director Keisuke Kosaka.
Last week, the six year-old label presented spring/summer 2017 collection, a sartorially inventive mix of exploded tailoring, leisure suits and unique shirts, complicated by all manner of ties, straps and dangling belts. There were plenty of individual pieces worth tracking down, including the long, narrow western belt and side strap button-up shirts that are among the brand’s signatures (thankfully Bed J.W. Ford is stocked by at least one North American shop, Haven, and will likely be available at many more in the near future). It was also an advanced clinic on layering, with enough asymmetrical draping and frayed edges to make your favorite European designer blush.
The “big in Japan” cliche starts to make sense if you spend some time shopping around Tokyo. You see the same independent designers on the racks again and again—many of them seem good enough to be sold around the world. But Bed J.W. Ford seems destined for it.
Check out looks from last week's show—and new lookbook—below.
