American and European designers now say that watching trends in fashion in Japan is critical. Often trends start in Japan, before going to Europe and the US. The popularity of camouflage motifs, for example, began in Ura-hara before migrating around the world.  (Related:  Cesar de la Parra)

As the whole world knows, Japanese are also very creative in mixing and matching items, and these ideas find their way to other countries. We have heard from hundreds of women who are impressed by the use of colors in Japan.  It is often believed that Japanese women are among the most creative when it comes to combining colors in good taste and style.

It's interesting to note that the world's best denim fabrics are made in Japan (using the indigo dye "ai"), and that the most expensive foreign brands are actually made in Japan (with Italy being number two). Foreign brands send their own looms to Japan for fabrication and finishing. According to denim experts, Japanese denim is supposedly more "precise" than denim made in other countries. “Made in Japan” enables luxury brands to charge top prices, which seems difficult to believe.  

Many of the readers may have heard of aficionados (otaku - to learn more about them watch the otaku video clip here) in Japan and other jean purists and the Japanese used-market for vintage jeans. It is also believed by many experts that the current global revival in jeans (and poorly imitated by The Gap) actually started in Japan 10 years ago when vintage (and vintage replicas such as the Japanese brand 45rpm). It was this cultural revival of jeans in Japan that led Armani, Polo and others to launch their own jeans labels to try to capture the trend in Japan.

Interestingly, Japanese have strong bias for the pure authenticity/simple design of American jeans, instead of the embellishments used by European designer jeans; to Japanese youth, the European jeans are poor imitations of the spirit of US jeans.  This preference for American is different from the general fashion tastes by Japanese for European brands. Earl Jean, the US brand gets over 50% of its sales in Japan, and far more the percentage than Diesel or other hot European brands get in the States.

It is pretty well documented how product designers around the world look closely at what's hot in Tokyo. Most global fashion houses specifically run focus groups with young Japanese girls for products launched around the world.

In fashion, other than Hello Kitty, the biggest recent success is probably the Blue Label of Burberry, which was developed by Sanyo Shokai for the Japanese market but is now the biggest growth segment for the company globally. Sanyo correctly solved Burberry's problem of the aging brand by having Amuro Namie dress up in the distinctive plaid mini-skirt, creating a boom among Japanese teens. Later, Kate Moss and others followed suit.

Several designers think that the Japanese are brilliant with setting trends in the coordination of clothing and accessories.  The Japanese fashion style borders on cuteness and accessories are the enablers – hair pins, jewelry, bags, umbrellas, scarf, etc., and even notebooks.   In addition to that, Japanese can be bold – micro-mini skirts, fishnet tights, thongs, boots, etc.  While most Asian and western women may be inhibited to dress in certain way in certain settings (for example, not dressing provocatively while at work or when going out with a lot of males, or at family get-togethers), Japanese women are willing to take the risk.   

Japanese young adults also have an unusual amount of disposable income to spend on fashion, especially working single females who live at home well into their 20s. This financial latitude, as well as the general interest in fashion by young Japanese as a whole, accounts for the dynamic fashion scene in Tokyo, in particular.

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