Designer Clothes Still Flourish in Japan despite Natural Disaster
Thousands of business establishments in Japan were affected following the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that took place at the Eastern section of the country last March 11. The local fashion industry was not exempted from this when the highly anticipated Japan Fashion Week which would have taken place last March 18 to 25 was cancelled just days before.
The sudden cancellation affected the fashion scene in Tokyo as several fashion designers were already set to showcase their latest collections for the 2011 fall and winter seasons.
However for other designers, life must go on and so do fashion shows. Several fashion designers have organized their individual shows to unveil their designer clothes for the season. As expected, audience participation on these events was noticeably lower than expected to those who would have attended the Japan Fashion Week.
One of the designers decided to make changes on the designer clothes that should be presented on the runway. Nao Yagi, a designer for brand mintdesigns, said that bright-colored designer clothes were shown to the public. The choice of brighter colors and bolder prints paid off as audiences applauded the fashion items. The show staff members also did their part of collection donations from the audiences to help aid the earthquake victims. The collector wore shirts with the phrase “A New Hope” emblazoned on the front.
Yagi admitted that the March 11 disaster affected the business. The designer revealed that the factory located at the northern part of the country was damaged by the quake and as such the staff employees had to relocate and rent a nearby factory to finish the clothes for the show.
The Fukushima nuclear power plant scare was also a major factor as visitors from abroad had to shy away from the country which in turn affected sales of designer clothes but at the end of the day, there is always hope.