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fashion fixSHOWROOM SEASONBY SAMUEL THOMAS, FASHION EDITORTokyo Fashion Week has been and gone for the Spring/Summer 2015 season,but for those in the industry it’s far from over. Once the dust has settled fromthe shows, the real work begins as fashion buyers and media crews head tothe showrooms to see the actual clothes from the catwalk. If you want a peekbehind the curtain, this is where insiders get to place their private orders forthe season—usually at a substantial discount. So if you’ve ever wondered howindustry types manage a different outfit every day of the month, this might justbe your explanation. However, recently more and more brands have startedto extend this same courtesy to their best customers in the form of pre-orderexhibitions—so keep your eye out for those this season.ON POINTThe Happening was without a doubt the biggestunexpected success story to come out of thisseason’s Tokyo Fashion Week. The Happeninggroup—which is made up of a varied team of similarlyminded fashion designers, stylists and shopowners—originally made its mark by hijacking lastseason’s fashion show from Dresscamp, runninga guerrilla fashion show on the runway while theguests for the official show were being seated.For their second outing earlier this month, theytook their grassroots mentality to the public witha crowd-funded fashion show held in the hub ofHarajuku street fashion, LaForet.Under the remit of putting art back into fashion,designers Leonard Wong, Nyte, Garter andAraki Shiro threw wearability to the wind with aseries of outfits that wouldn’t look out of place inLady Gaga’s wardrobe. But even though theseoutfits might never be worn on Tokyo’s streets,the show was funded by the general public, indicatingthat even if the average man or womanmight not wear fashion on this scale, they certainlydesire to see it nonetheless.The HappeningSHOPPING STRATEGYShibuya department storeParco is in for a totalrebranding this winter.The consistentlypopular shoppinglocation has beenon a steady path towardmodernizationfor some time now, especiallyin comparison toits more traditional contemporaries—manyof whom have yet to create a functioning onlineshopping site. But Parco’s new trajectorypitches the store directly at the current generationof youth alienated by the conventionaldepartment store experience. Aimed clearlytoward so-called digital natives, the new Parcowill be social media and online ready, not leastbecause it will also become the public-facingHQ for Niconico Douga, the popular videosharing site.Parco’s path toward the youth vote beganin October 2012, when it devoted its entire fifthfloor to a pop culture-orientated space, featuringnot only fashion and anime crossover fashionfrom Cospa but also shops for hardcore fans,such as the flagship One Piece shop. This approachof melding youth fashion with its culturalcontext is key to winning over the generationraised on the internet, and if the attendance atthis month’s Shibuya Cultural Festival at Parco isany indication, it appears to be working.Courtesy of ParcoSTREET FOCUSJaponsim as a fashion genre is loosely describedas Western takes on Japanese aesthetics. Andwhile that may seem a fairly archaic concept in anever-more-globalized world, it’s still as relevantas ever thanks to it increasingly being Japanesefashionistas who attempt to mix said aesthetics,having been raised on a predominantly Westernfashion diet.Non-Japanese fans should aim to be cautious.If in doubt, stick to one piece of Japonica perensemble (as above) lest you segue into costume.Photo by Samuel ThomasFASHION CALENDAROct 17 | Macaronic Koenji OpensCult select shop Macaronic, responsiblefor stocking some of the coolestunderground brands in Tokyo, is makingthe move from Harajuku to Koenji,taking with it yet another piece ofHarajuku’s fashion cred in the process.www.macaronic.jpOct 19 | Tweed Run TokyoNow in its third iteration, the cyclingroute that takes in some of Tokyo’sfinest heritage fashion, art and foodcultural hotspots is back. Needless tosay, the dress code is tweed, and it’sstrictly enforced.http://tweedruntokyo.com/Oct 24 | Knee-High Sock SensationKnee-high socks inspired by currentlyairing anime Gundam Build Fightersare making waves online thanks toa new photo book from underwaterphotographer Koga Manabu. Thedesigns, which turn the wearer’s leginto a robotic appendage, are on sale atPater’s Harajuku from the 24th.www.paters.co.jpOct 25-28 | Oasis—The ExhibitionMancunian rock legends Oasis’ effecton late ’90s Harajuku street fashionis the star of this exhibit in LaForetHarajuku. Alongside classic photosand a screening of their first Tokyo gig,there will be a recreation of the iconicDefinitely Maybe album cover, as well asartifacts from the era.http://oasis-chasingthesun.jp/exhibition/17