Renata Espinosa
March 13th, 2007 @ 5:02 PM - Tokyo

A 19th century sepia toned photograph of a girl; an avant-garde woman warrior and an escape from the mundane: These were just some of the jumping off points for designers showing in Tokyo on the second day of the fall/winter 2007 collections at Japan Fashion Week on Tuesday, March 13.

Though the collections shown Tuesday ranged in style from the delicate and feminine to hard-edged rock en roll to highly intricate origami-like tailoring, what tied these collections together was a sense of fashion being used in a fantastical and whimsical way to transform the ordinary into something more extraordinary.

The sun was shining brightly in Tokyo, but at Everlasting Sprout, the soundtrack featured the sounds of a rain storm, the air was damp and shallow puddles of water were splashed across the gray stone runway. This was the first official runway show during the Tokyo collections for designers Keiichi Muramatsu and Noriko Seki, who studied knits in Italy. Inspired by the photographs of Eugene Atget, a 19th century photographer whose pictures of the streets of Paris evoke the aura of a city on the verge of modernity, their collection featured soft, rumpled knit basics of jumpers, sweater dresses, shorts, Peter Pan collared shirts and deconstructed loose hand-knit wraps that covered the models like overgrown vines in a flower patch.

"It's about girls in love and girls who have an aura around them," said Muramatsu post-show through an interpreter. "In the sepia toned photograph, there's a woman glowing. You see the light coming through and it's very beautiful." A chandelier made of branches and bare but warm glowing bulbs at the end of the runway also symbolized the glow of the women, said Muramatsu.

At Doho, designed by South Korean designer Do Ho and self-described as "Art for Heroine," it was Mad Max meets Baby Phat with plenty of flashy metallic leather looks, crystal embellished tops and trousers and deconstructed layers of suiting fabrics, velvet, lace and tulle. Fur, somewhat of a rare occurence on the runways in Japan, also made a big splash here in the final passage of the show. Though the program notes made reference to a union of avant-garde art with life, the over-the-top and tacky styling only succeeded in evoking the feeling of conspicuous consumption.

At cutting edge Harajuku department store Laforet, which carries hip labels from London, Paris and Japan, including Topshop and Topman, another Issey Miyake protege, designer Kazuaki Takshima, presented his fall/winter 2007 collection under his label Ne-net. Entitling his collection "Taikutsu," or "Boring," Takshima said his theme was finding happiness in the mundane, and to represent this on the runway he placed a row of life-sized stuffed dolls with motorized heads that turned from side to side as the models walked the perimeter of a stage. In the center of the stage, were child-sized mannequins with white handkerchiefs covering their heads like Casper the Friendly Ghost. However, in Japan, this is the image of "Shiny Boy," a figure that children commonly create with a ball and handkerchief and chant "teru teru bozu," or, "Please, please, sun, come out tomorrow." Origami-based folds and fabric interlocked basket-weave style formed the basis of the collection, with hooded capes shaped like trees (and printed with graphic triangle shapes), voluminous origami balloon skirts, giant e90s raver pants, funnel neck coats and sleeves like straight jackets.

The final shows of the day, Hiroko Koshino and Ato by Ato Matsumoto, displayed exemplary tailoring. Hiroko Koshino fused 19th century military, Elizabethan volume and futurism in her first set of looks, with sculptured epaulets, softly pleated short cape coats and kimono sleeves. Then the collection took a patchwork folk turn with layers of tulle, velvet and chunky knits - a big trend here in Japan thus far. There were so many ideas in the collection, though - enough for four or five separate collections - that a bit of editing would have strengthened the show.

Ato showed both womenswear and menswear, with the womenswear borrowing from the men's and vice versa. "It's feminine, but I wanted to get it closer to men's," said Matsumoto through an interpreter post-show. This translated into taking motorcycle riding jackets, military coats and tailored jackets but evolving the tailoring into something more feminine. The riding jackets were either cropped into boleros or lengthened or sleeves were removed from tailored coats and chiffon cap sleeves put in their place. In the menswear, exaggerated shoulders and techno fabric coats were tempered by a skinny trouser - in some cases simply leggings - worn with snow boot-like high top sneakers.

Though only two days into the week of shows in Japan, a few key trends are emerging. Playful, graphic prints from the "new rave" camp, chunky knits, volume, origami folds, and strong, assertive "look at me" clothes - all designed with the transifiguration of the commonplace in mind.