Tokyo Girls Collection: Japan’s must-see fashion festival
Tokyo’s bi-annual festival of fashion is a must-see for anyone interested in the world of stylish teenagers. This is fashion at it’s most fantastic and frenetic!
Twice a year, thousands of girls take over Tokyo all in search of one thing: their next fashion fix. Tokyo Girls Collection started back in 2005, and along with Japan’s love of fast fashion, has grown exponentially ever since. But what’s Tokyo Girls Collection all about?
What makes this happening unique is the fusion of catwalk shows, events and special guests: past performers include Rihanna, Leah Dizon and Kumi Koda. Run by fashion behemoth Branding Inc. (owners of Fashion Walker & Girls Walker), TCG united all aspects of fashion in contemporary Tokyo and brings it directly to it’s audience—the Tokyo girls themselves.
It’s this level of participation that has ensured Tokyo Girls Collection’s success. We’re all used to looking to these girls for inspiration, but where do they go to get inspired? Tokyo Girls Collection.
Open to the fashion-loving public as well as press and professionals, at Tokyo Girls Collection you can see the latest styles, get your nails done and even use your hi-tech phone to buy items before the model has finished strutting down the catwalk. The future of fashion consumerism is here already.
This year’s first event was held in March, with the second Tokyo Girls Collection of 2011 slated to be held in September. This year’s TGC was another sell-out, with street wear favourite brands such as Cecil McBee, Beams and LDS creating a storm with their chic and affordable clothing.
New to Tokyo Girls Collection for 2011 was the collaboration with Vogue Girl magazine: high end foreign brands including Marc Jacobs, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent rubbing shoulders on stage with domestic Japanese brands in outfits that wouldn’t look out of place on any Tokyo street.
With the fashion community already looking forward to this autumn’s Tokyo Girls Collection, it’s been fantastic to see the shift in fashion power move directly to the consumer, no doubt helped by the rise in influential fashion blogs.
Do you think fashion blogs will continue to affect fashion? Would you like to go to Tokyo Girls Collection?
