TOKYO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo Fashion Week kicked off here Monday with a host of established and up-and-coming designers set to showcase their visions on runways and at events in the capital.
The twice-annual event focusing on collections for autumn and winter and known officially as "Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO" saw the capital's fashionistas turn out en masse despite the drizzle on the opening day of the event, to get the scoop on the latest upcoming trends.
Centered around Shibuya's iconic Hikarie building and upscale Omotesando Hills, the first day's offerings included creative visions from the likes of Takanori Nagano and Chika Kisada.
Nagano, a graduate of Tokyo's iconic MODE GAKUEN College of Fashion & Design, drawing on themes from anime, art, and film, showcased his customary loose fits and popping colors for his men's SEVESKIG brand's ready-to-wear collection.
Kisada, meanwhile, with a background in ballet, fused a "punk-like" energy into her women's collection, sending models sashaying down the runway imparting a sense of "tempo", "determination", and the "individuality" of female urbanites who are always on the go.
The line-up of designers and brands comprising this season's Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO is, as with years past, conspicuously lacking in the international diversity seen at more prodigious fashion weeks in the likes of Paris, Milan, London and New York, as well as the slew of A-list celebrity models garnering the attention of photographers' lenses that the bigger global events attract.
Tokyo's biannual event this season, however, promises to showcase an eclectic range of homegrown talent from relative newcomers alongside more established brands in the days ahead, on runways, installations, at parties and online events in the capital. ■