Most of the time when we talk about global or impactful fashion events, we only speak about (what are considered) the top four (or five if you consider Victoria’s Secret as well) – New York Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, and London Fashion Week. But we often overlook our own continents’ big and poignant fashion related events. The Week brings to you some of the most prominent fashion events that happen annually in Asia. These events are as interesting and fashion forward as the popular fashion weeks around the world minus the media frenzy.
Seoul Fashion Week
Among the other fashion weeks that happen in South Korea – namely Busan Fashion Week, Daegu Fashion Week, Seoul Girls Collection and Preview in Daegu – Seoul Fashion Week is considered to be the biggest and the most important one. It’s conducted by Inotion World Wide and sponsored by the city of Seoul and its residents. It’s generally held before the top four fashion weeks – in October and March – and is renowned for its inclusivity and acceptance of all cultures. It’s reflected in the clothes that are showcased in the fashion week and we are yet to see something of this scale in the top four fashion weeks.
The fashion scene of South Korea evolved significantly in the past two decades. The country is currently known to be home to big fashion labels like LIE, Bumet Te, Beyond Closet, and KYE among others. A majority of South Korean fashion houses are known to fuse traditional Korean aesthetics with Western ones to produce creative and fashionable clothing. It might look like Western trends and influences have completely taken over South Korean fashion enthusiasts, designers, stylists and consumers but if you dig a little deeper, you will realize that the country as a whole puts a lot of emphasis on the consumers and wearers of the fashion items to express themselves through their garments and to value their individuality while doing so.
Fashion talk with today’s fashionistas
Tokyo Fashion Week
Slowly but surely, Tokyo is sashaying into the fashion scene as one of the most important cities for both consumers and fashion business owners. The Tokyo Fashion Week is considered to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, challenger to the top four fashion weeks in terms of the quality of clothes showcased. It’s usually held in March and October after the completion of the big four fashion weeks. It’s one of the many fashion events held in Japan. Some of the other notable events regarding fashion that take place in Japan are Girls Award, Hiroshima Fashion Week, Kobe Collection, Kyoto Fashion Week, Nagoya Fashion Week, Osaka Fashion Week, Sapporo Fashion Week, and Tokyo Girls Collection.
And like their South Korean counterparts, Japanese designers make full use of their rich culture and traditional clothing while also mixing in the Western influences and trends. This fashion week has been officially named the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Tokyo because Mercedes Benz has been sponsoring this event for more than 12 years now. Mame Kurogouchi, Ambush, Soe, and TTT_MSW are some of the biggest brands that have a big bi-annual presence at the Tokyo Fashion Week.
Shanghai Fashion Week
Shanghai Fashion Week is a part of Shanghai International Fashion Culture Festival (which lasts for a month) and was started back in 2001. Even though it’s a relatively new national fashion week, the designers participating in it and the clothes that are showcased are of international standards. One of the reasons for this might be because of the fact that it’s a business and cultural event that is hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Government and supported by the Ministry of Commerce (China).
Shanghai Fashion Week also has segments where international designers are invited to showcase their collections. Shanghai can also be considered as one of the progressive cities in terms of fashion as it has many fashion boutiques and design houses, fashionable residents and a lot of international fashion organizations. Also, institutes including Conde Nast, Parsons and Fashion Institute of Technology have opened either an outlet or a branch of the company in the past year or two. Apart from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Tianjin are some cities in China that are known to be fashion forward and all of these cities also host their own fashion weeks.
Some other notable fashion events in Asia
The Lakme Fashion Week held in Mumbai, India, currently ranks among the top 10 biggest and most important fashion events in the world. The fashion week mainly puts an emphasis on South Asian bridal wear but you will also see some cool Indian-Western fusion clothes from a few popular designers.
Arab Fashion Week is another important fashion event in Asia that makes waves in the fashion industry every season. The clothes showcased here are very demure and full coverage. You won’t be seeing a teenager walking the ramp in sheer Calvin Klein tees. The clothes showcased here all have an aura of elegance while managing to be very stylish.
