First official participation in NY Fashion Week for LEATHER JAPAN 2012 and Vantan Tokyo

The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (New York Collection) was held from February 9 through 16. Approximately 90 designers presented their 2012 fall collections. Among them LEATHER JAPAN 2012, which assembles leather brands from Japan, and Vantan Tokyo, from students of the Vantan Design Institute in Japan, presented their first official participation in the show.

LEATHER JAPAN 2012 is a project that was undertaken with the cooperation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry and the Japan Fashion Week Organization and under the sponsorship of the Japan Leather Product Planning Committee. The show utilized a presentation format on February 13 in the Lincoln Center, which was the main venue. On the platforms set up in the four corners of the venue, models were assuming looks from a collaboration between fashion designers and leather brands and in the center, leather bag collaboration products from the major leather brand, 'genten,' and various designers were suspended. Various types of Japanese products were presented, including ladies' unisex wear, shoes, and bags, and many people involved in the global fashion industry, including those from the U.S., visited the venue.

The eight participating brands include AGURI SAGIMORI, No, No, Yes! (Taichiro Hashimoto), SOMARTA (Tamae Hirokawa), motonari ono, SAKAGUCHI-KOSHI-FOR-BLAZE (Koshi Sakaguchi), LeParrain (Nao Yokoo), NORITAKA TATEHANA, and genten. The SOMARTA designer, Tamae Hirokawa, said, "It was great to actually come to New York and to experience the reactions of the participants. I would like to use this as an opportunity to continue my marketing efforts and develop a U.S. market."

For the three-day period from the 14^th, the location was moved to the NEXUS showroom in midtown Manhattan and an exhibit was held for the purpose of wholesale trade for retail stores. A total of 11 brands presented, including OTO (Hiroaki Otsu), Enevare (Junko Makino), and selvedge (Maruyoshi) in addition to the brands that participated in the show. Junko Makino, the Enevare designer for whom this was the first overseas exhibit, enthusiastically said, "The buyers and industry people told me that my leather products match the aggressive and energetic New York atmosphere. I aim to sell my products in the full-scale U.S. market and plan to visit hopeful trade connections after the exhibit and start business talks without delay."

According to Laura Ciccarello, the NEXUS showroom sales director, buyers from select shops such as Barney's New York visited during the three-day period and had positive reactions to the Japanese leather products. She said, "The brands exhibited are all brands that have already been established in Japan. There are many individual designs that are not seen in the U.S. and the goods are high quality. I think that there is a good possibility that Japanese leather products will sell in the U.S. market."

Meanwhile, Vantan Design Institute held the runway show, Vantan Tokyo, developed by student designers on February 11. Yuya Kubohara, Cheryl Chee, Cheung Siu Yan, and Masato Miyata, four students who were successful in the school's debut collection in Japan, Vantan Cutting Edge, made their debut in the Lincoln Center venue.

In the Vantan group, the student overseas debut project, Vantan Tokyo, was undertaken in 2008 in an effort to support the creation of early debut opportunities, mainly for students with creative abilities and strong business awareness for independently developing a brand in the future. This was the fourth such project and the stage was moved from Paris to New York. The reason that New York was selected was for the purpose of actively uncovering new talent and supporting young designers.

Vantan Tokyo also held a three-day exhibit in the Nexus Showroom starting on the 13^th, two days after the show. Laura Ciccarello, the sales director of the Showroom, said that the reactions from the buyers, stylists, and editors who visited the exhibit were positive and there was great expectation of what the future would bring for the four young designers.

This New York Collection is starting to have a sense of the existence of Japan through the participation of LEATHER JAPAN 2012 and Vantan Tokyo. Continued participation will be the key to entering the U.S. market and linking to real business.