With the 20th edition, the Tokyo Fashion Week has reached a special milestone. Under the motto “Be the Seam that Connects the World”, she not only praised two decades of fashion history, but also hoped to look forward. Nevertheless, there was time for a review that shows how much the most important fashion event has changed over the years and has repeatedly reinvented it.
For the anniversary, the organizer, the Japan Fashion Week Organization (JFWO), used the opening ceremony on August 29 to look back on the previous trip. Designers were honored: inside and brands that have been part of the Fashion Week – a total of 524. In addition, the JFWO announced structural innovations, which are intended to secure the role of Tokyo Fashion Week as a long -term impulse provider and continue to advance its continuous development.
Fashionunited offers a compact but deep insight into the most important changes that the Tokyo Fashion Week have shaped over the years.
2005: The beginnings
Before the founding of the JFWO, Japan’s fashion industry had difficulty attracting national and international media and buyers: in the inside. Despite a strong manufacturing industry and a clear market identity, Tokyo was not yet recognized as an important location.
At that time, the industry was headed by the Council of Fashion Designer, Tokyo, the organizer of the Tokyo Collection. This half -year fashion festival campaigned for Japanese culture and fashion. Despite its popularity – and participating of the French luxury fashion brand Chanel – the event was critically checked in 2005. The organizers came to the conclusion that the industry needed a common platform to combine and strengthen the Tokios fashion scene.
In order to do justice to this, designers merged: inside, manufacturer: inside and representatives: inside the clothing and retail industry. They founded the Fashion Strategy Forum, which later became known as JFWO. There they organized textile fairs and other fashion events – and thus laid the foundation for the Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo.
2010: The view outwards
As an established organization, the JFWO increasingly focused on the global markets. In order to gain a foothold internationally, she signed a five -year agreement with IMG Fashion, which should act as the sole and exclusive representative of sponsorship rights. Together they both worked on strengthening Tokios call as an important player in the textile and fashion sector and promoting the growth of the event.
2011: Mercedes-Benz as the first title sponsor
A year later, the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz became the first title sponsor of Japan Fashion Week Tokyo. With this partnership, a new chapter in the international growth strategy of the JFWO began. The event officially became the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo and thus positioned itself even more clearly as an integral part of the global fashion calendar.
2014: Promotion of local talents
In order to support and promote aspiring local designers: in 2014, the JFWO launched the Tokyo Fashion Award. The still existing program grants up -and -coming designers: inside financial resources and the possibility of presenting their collections in both Tokyo and on global stages such as the Paris Fashion Week.
2016: Sponsoring by Amazon
On the way of global partnerships, the American company Amazon became the title sponsor of Fashion Week. The event was renamed Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo, taking on the role of Mercedes-Benz after ten seasons. Starting with the 23rd edition, a new structure supported by Amazon aimed at strengthening the connections between designers: inside and consumers: to strengthen inside. Functions such as online shops and ‘See-now Buy-now’ initiatives were introduced.
2019: Rakuten takes over
Fashion Week changed the sponsor again and was looking for her next partner in Germany. The Japanese technology and retail company Rakuten took over the sponsorship of the event. This was appropriately renamed Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo.
The partnership not only helped financially. She also deepened the cooperation between the JFWO between fashion and technology and strengthened the support of the local Japanese fashion industry. The partnership also contributed to the more comprehensive rakuten fashion strategy, which was started in the same year. With this strategy, the company wanted to promote Japanese fashion worldwide.
2020: Pandemic
The pandemic was a crucial moment for the fashion industry. Almost all brands, events and organizations had to rethink their approach to a quickly changing world. Covid-19 brought a large part of the industry to a standstill; Shops closed, brands stopped production and events, including the Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo, physically. Instead, many opted for digital formats.
In response to the fast changes, Rakuten and the Fashion Week ‘by R’ introduced. The support initiative should help Japanese and now also international designers: inside with digital or physical presentations and pop-up experiences.
The first selected brands were Double and Facetasm. The latter returned to Tokyo in Milan after six years. This was reflected in a more comprehensive mission of the initiative: Well -known Japanese designers: to encourage inside, take a place in the Tokyo program and to emphasize the event for an international audience.
2022: Support for emerging brands is growing
In addition to the already running Tokyo Fashion Award, the JFWO launched the JFW Next Brand Award as part of its more comprehensive ‘JFW Brand Support Program. This award, which was awarded for the first time for the FS23 season, serves as a springboard for aspiring Japanese designers: inside the global model landscape. It offers you a supportive platform to present your talent.
2023: New dynamics
After a few years in the state of floating between digital and physical presentations, the HW23 Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo won again. Fashion Week had apparently recovered from previous financial bottlenecks and a limited international participation. She was supported by the anniversary show of the popular streetwear brand Bape, which took place as part of ‘by R’.
2024: International connections
After the upswing, the Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo 2024 further expanded its international connections. In September, the first Japanese edition of the French trade fair Tranoï took place at the same time as the FS25 Fashion Week. The event took over the earlier place of the Project Tokyo, which had withdrawn from the program. It was supposed to give the Tokyo Fashion Week a new commercial dimension, said Boris Provost, director of Tranoï, at the time.
Months later it became known that the JFWO also received a partnership with the Pitti Uomo in order to strengthen the advertising measures in connection with the Florentine Men’s fashion fair. Together, the two organizations want to take “coordinated and uniform measures” in order to counter “long wave of economic and political shocks”. They support activities that aim to strengthen the joint cooperation and the collective performance of both markets.
2025: anniversary year
In the twentieth year, the Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo looks ahead. After the great enthusiasm for the participation of Paul Smith at the beginning of the year and another “by R” show, the JFWO has adapted the structure of the Fashion Week to the changing fashion world for this edition.
A central element is the complete removal of digital content from the program. The focus is now on the individual branding: The so -called “Official Designer Shows” present the core brands, while “Partnership shows” are organized by national organizations or connected events. “Incubation shows”, in turn, offer schools and students: inside a platform to present themselves.
The Tokyo Fashion Award has also been restructured: for the eleventh edition, the support for selected designers: inside was extended to two years. The winners are also given the opportunity to take part in a pop-up at 10 Corso Como in Seoul and in a model showroom and pop-up during the Paris Fashion Week.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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