Continuing on from yesterdays coverage of Wut Berlin’s A/W 2012-13 Dark Renaissance show where we established the brands involved and tone of the show, today we are going to look at some details and ideas in the show. Don’t worry, I am not going to get carried away and try to claim that the crosses made of cassette tapes and plastic capes refer to consumerism as a religion or the superficiality of fashion (although they might very well), but instead I think there are some broad themes that are really worth picking out, as I am pretty confident that many will become big trends this A/W on the Japanese streets.
First and foremost is the genderless silhouette, which is not the same as looking androgynous, rather it is only the silhouette that is not gendered, and the rest of the styling can be used to really draw attention to that. That is one of the many reasons why I think Bodysong is such a key player in Japanese fashion right now, his designs look great on anyone, but also accentuate masculinity and femininity depending on who is wearing them.
Second is the rejection of the idea of domestic vs imported that has long typified the Japanese retail market, afterall Japan has been the primary market for so many underground brands for a while now, that there really is no difference to matter anymore. I can’t think of any other show that has mixed so many disperate brands so well before, and like everything Wut Berlin does, it is representative of what people are actually doing at a street level.
Third is the progression from the faux-90s grunge movement that is gripping the younger end of the Tokyo fashion scene (and is starting to feel a little tired), instead of the cheap studs, fake black leather and pastels, there were inspirational bursts of metallics, foils and strong saturated colours. It felt progressive, adult yet exciting, and a melding of all the best elements that we have seen at last Tokyo Fashion Week.
It also seems to be the time for a revival of a centerpiece approach to fashion, rather then the heavy layered approach that has been the prevalent force in Tokyo street fashion for what seems like decades. You just have to glance at the majority of the designers featured in the show to see that their collections are built around single strong outer layers that are in effect, an outfit all by themselves. It is a core principle behind the dinner group helmed by Balmung, Bodysong and runurunu to have a single strong outer at the core of the ensemble and I think even with their hectic designs it adds a great deal of maturity and simplicity to an outfit, and it is clear that many are following their lead.
I won’t bore you with some other trends I have picked up on, but if there is anything that you have particularly enjoyed then feel free to let me know. For now, I hope you enjoy some more of my highlights from the show:
These shields are courtesy of Balmung – I have no idea how that man manages to get everything he does done!
The futuristic king that brought the show to a close.
I just don’t know how to express how much admirative and thankful I am to Samuel from http://www.tokyotelephone.com for his excellent and very interesting review about Wut berlin Fashion Show… Merci!