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This September marks the 10th anniversary of one of Asia’s most prominent fashion awards. Established in 2014 through a collaboration between the Japan Fashion Week Organisation (JFWO) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Tokyo Fashion Award has been instrumental in spotlighting and nurturing local up-and-coming talent by providing financial and logistical support to its recipients and encouraging them to expand into international markets.
Each year, the award takes eight designers (half womenswear, half menswear) to Paris to showcase their work to press and buyers in a showroom during Paris Fashion Week, as well as providing a show venue and contributing to the costs of a runway show or presentation at Tokyo Fashion Week. To date, 60 brands have won support through the award. Alumni include Doublet’s Masayuki Ino, who would later go on to be the first Japanese designer to win the 2019 LVMH Prize, Yoshikazu Yamagata, the designer behind cult label Writtenafterwards and the founder of influential fashion school Coconogacco, and Facetasm designer Hiromichi Ochiai. Officials from JFWO report that the award now attracts applications from more than 60 brands annually.
As the accolade enters its second decade, to mark the milestone Tokyo Fashion Week is holding an exhibition of work from past award winners until 7 September, as well as introducing next year’s recipients. Announced yesterday, the 2025 winners include Hatra, a brand by Keisuke Nagami that uses AI to inform its futuristic clothing, and Tamme, whose designer Tatsuya Tamada previously worked under Chitose Abe at Sacai.
“It’s such an amazing programme because it shows how the government and fashion can pave the way for young talent to get recognised and gives them an international platform,” says US-based fashion consultant Nick Wooster, who is on the jury and flies in each season to attend the shows in Tokyo. “I think what makes the programme unique is that it is very thoughtful and collaborative, and we make sure that a variety of tastes and viewpoints are heard. It might even inspire other countries and other fashion weeks to replicate its success. The upside for the brands is unlimited.”
Tomomi Miyamoto, division manager at the Osaka-based department store chain Hankyu, has been on the award’s jury since its inception. She says that the award serves as a barometer for which Japanese designers will make it abroad. “I hope that we can create an opportunity for Japanese brands to follow in the footsteps of Comme des Garçons and Yohji Yamamoto,” says Miyamoto, mentioning Doublet, Sulvam and Khoki as brands that have stood out during her tenure as a judge. “I’m always looking for something new, and for designers to show me something I’ve never seen before,” she says, adding that the age of applicants is irrelevant.
Kota Gushiken, a Central Saint Martins graduate who is drawing attention in Japan for his offbeat knitwear, was one of 2024’s winners and travelled to Paris for the men’s shows in January and June. For Gushiken, the chance to take his work to Europe has been a considerable boon. “If you went to do a showroom in Paris and paid everything off by yourself, then it’s going to be a super tough situation, so the financial support from the award helped me a lot,” he says.
Attracting international buyers to Paris showrooms can be a struggle. Though Gushiken wasn’t able to secure any European stockists this season, he did win three new vendors from Korea. “Even though [buyers] liked my collection, my brand is still super new to them, so many of them want to see a few more seasons first,” he says. The designer plans to return to show his Autumn/Winter 2025 collection in the French capital in January, hoping to build momentum. Though the award will no longer support him financially, he is permitted to use the Paris showroom free of charge for the next two seasons. “I am trying to find the best way to present my collections in Paris, creative wise and economic wise,” he adds.
Retailers in Tokyo are also doing their part. Shinjuku City’s Isetan department store is hosting a pop-up featuring last year’s winners in its fashion-forward section Restyle. “In the current fashion industry, where global luxury brands are rapidly expanding, we believe it is crucial to support Japanese designer brands and promote them to the world,” says Kohei Hashimoto, womenswear buyer at Isetan. “We are fortunate to have customers from various countries around the world visit our store, and I believe that by prominently featuring Japan’s young designers, we will be able to connect them to markets across the globe.”
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