The Fashion Spot

Dress 33 and others shine... Now in its ninth season, Japan’s bi-annual Fashion Week officially kicked off on October 19th at the Tokyo Midtown Hall and will run through October 24th. With 56 domestic and Asian participating brands, including a perennial favorite of mine, Dress 33 (they’ve shown in Paris during previous seasons as well), this season promises to be bigger and more exciting than ever.

 
While I hope to make it to Japan next season for their Fashion Week, photos will have to do for now. Dress 33, newly launched by Toshikazu Iwaya, had their presentation on the 19th and they showed a wonderfully lively and colorful collection inspired by Pablo Picasso. As per usual, the shoes, head pieces, and other miscellaneous accessories were the stars of the show. Always over the top and fabulous with feathers and glitz, Dress 33 is a perfect embodiment of what makes Japan Fashion Week so exciting.

 
I wonder if any of the runway shows will be using those 5 foot tall, 95 pound, $200,000 Japanese robot fashion models we heard so much about a few months ago. Developed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, the robots made their debut last season in Tokyo during Fashion Week with still some kinks to work out.

 
Robots aside, among the other notable designers showing in the coming days are garçonshinois, Takumi Hatakeyama, Junya Tashiro, fur fur, Yukiko Hanai, Margit Brandt, and Noir / Bllack Noir.