A major event to showcase the latest fashions for the 2021 spring and summer seasons, Tokyo Fashion Week kicked off with the majority of shows going online to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
About 70 percent of some 40 participating brands refrained from holding catwalk displays during Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo. These brands will instead livestream their collections featuring the latest designs on their smartphones and computers through the organizer's official YouTube channel and the labels' own websites.
‘tac:tac,’ a Tokyo-based casual brand launched in 2013 by Japanese designer Takaaki Shimase, released a video online to lead off the six-day event. For the latest event through Saturday, foreign brands from countries including China and South Korea are taking part.
The event will also hold special programs to feature collections from "doublet" by Paris-based designer Masayuki Ino, and "Facetasm" by Hiromichi Ochiai. The biannual Tokyo event is among those in Paris, Milan, London and New York known for their influence in the fashion world, according to the organizer.
