At exactly 3pm the 7th edition of the much-feted Tokyo Girls Collection began with the following address: “From a tiny cell phone it was born. Emerged suddenly from the chaos and sparked a revolution.” The revolution being the ability to be able to buy whole outfits as you see them coming down the runway in real time with your mobile phone at the event. That, and the appearance of over 300 popular fashion magazine models, is the beauty of the TGC, which attracted an impressive 22,700 young fashionistas to Yoyogi Stadium for the all-day event.
More impressive however was how the event managed to take the current eco trend to heart and beyond the now ubiquitous eco bag (though the latter were selling like hot cakes in the retail pavilion).
An intermission video featured models answering the question, “What’s your ecology?” to tune of saying no to plastic bags and using “my hashi.” Vivi model Jun Hasegawa gets credit for saying that she actually turns the shower off while soaping her hair. Considering the influence these models have over mainstream fashion, it is a safe bet that more than a few fans will want to emulate their ecological ways. To that effect, the event featured a booth where visitors could sign a “My Challenge” pledge to reduce their daily CO2 output by 1kg, which a number of the models had also signed.
Uniqlo, an oddly unfashionable partner, chipped in by bringing its recycle project to the event, asking visitors to drop off unwanted clothes at the entrance for recycling or donation.
Perhaps the most out-there element of the greening of the event, however, was the planting of three trees outside of Shibuya station. Called the Shibuya +1 no Mori (Shibuya +1’s forest) was created on July 31 through cooperation with the NPO Gaia Initiative and included celebrity appearances by the likes of Yu Yamada.
While three trees may not seem like a forest, the symbolic act draws on the character for “mori” (forest), which is made up of three tree symbols. Shibuya is the heart and retail center for most of the brands participating in the show.
Another interesting departure for this season’s event was the decision to include a collection of runway shows by more high-end select shops, at the expense of the inclusion of a few regularly featured, reasonably priced ones. Organizers Girlswalker.com and Xavel seem to be priming the event’s fans for graduation from Shibuya 109-style “real fashion” to more high end shops. An interesting move, and we’ll be watching to see what they do next.
Looks from select shops Free’s Shop, Another Edition, Loveless, pictured above. And by the way, in case you were wondering, it is all about plaid this fall.
From Spiral Girl, Moroko Bar, and Cecil McBee, pictured above.
I love the fact that Japanese fashion is going green. Especially with the state that the world is in currently, I think that fashion could be a great way to send powerful messages and keep things moving forward.
Rebecca, I enjoyed your timely article on Tokyo Girls Collection’s attempt to go green. I appreciate how you attempted to analyze what aspects of the show were successful and innovative in comparison to the more half-hearted aspects such as the “eco bag”. I think the use of model statements on how they reduce their own carbon footprints or work to live a more environmentally conscious existence is particularly important. The influence celebrities have over fashion, in both Japan and abroad, is undeniable since they are the source of many new trends. The use of celebrities as a source of environmentally conscious lifestyle is particularly important in the age of mass global media. The “My Challenge” pledges by the models to reduce their carbon output by 1k a day added a degree of legitimacy that the statements would have otherwise lacked.
While I thoroughly enjoyed your post, I found myself hoping that you discussed the importance of the issue at hand and what effects you thought I might have for the Japanese environmentalist movement as a whole. I felt that they entry was too much of just a brief summary of events, but would gain much from a more detailed analysis. Just added a few sentences of commentary would have filled out the article a bit more and made it more engaging for the reader. I understand that the purpose of Trends of Japan may be to present a more news-like reporting of events, however, given the lack of information about Japan related trends online, an occasional discussion of the topic would create a more engaging blog. I look forward to reading your entries in the future.