As Japan undertakes its bold stimulus plan under its prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese fashion is getting a boost, too. Earlier this month, eight years after the launch of the first Japan Fashion Week, members of the international press were brought in to view shows of local designers’ collections for spring/summer 2014.
在首相安倍(Shinzo Abe)的主导下，日本如今正实施雄心勃勃的经济刺激计划，日本的时装业也更上一层楼。不久前，继首届日本时装周(Japan Fashion Week)成功举办八年之后，国际媒体云集东瀛，欣赏2014春夏季日本时装周的本国设计师时装专常
“It was Abe’s Liberal Democratic party that founded Japan Fashion Week,” says Akiko Shinoda, director of international affairs for the event. “The government is already trying to push to invest much more in promoting fashion, and we hope they’ll pump in more money in the near future.”
“正是安倍所在的自民党(Liberal Democratic)创办了日本时装周，”本届时装周国际关系部总裁筱田明子(Akiko Shinoda)说。“政府已开始想方设法增加投入，以提振本国时装业，我们希望政府在不久的将来能注入更多资金。”
It is early days, continues Shinoda, and one goal is to copy London Fashion Week in promoting the country and its young designers to overseas markets.
筱田明子继续说道，这只是初级阶段，日本时装周的目标是效仿伦敦时装周的做法，提升国家形象并且把本国年轻设计师推向国际市常
In the rush to conquer the Asian market, however, there is competition. South Korea has the cash to bring in 25 times as many foreign press as Tokyo, says Shinoda. But no country in the region has the depth of designers that Japan has or, more importantly, the reputation for creative excellence and sophistication established by Japanese brands in Europe over decades.
但在努力攻占亚洲市场的过程中，日本时装遭遇激烈竞争。韩国资金雄厚，韩国时装周所邀请的外国媒体人数为东京25倍之多，筱田明子说。但日本设计师的积淀与底蕴在整个东亚地区无出其右，抑或说更重要的是：过去几十年，日本品牌早已在欧洲市场创下创意卓越以及设计水准高的好名声。
And at this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, themes have emerged from the shows that would have been familiar to any fashionista who knows the leading Japanese brands that feature in Paris, such as Commes des Gar?ons, Issey Miyake, Sacai, Junya Watanabe, Undercover, and Yohji Yamamoto. Think lots of dark-black solemnity, playful experimentation, asymmetry and, especially, a blurring of the western distinction between male and female garments.
今年的梅塞德斯-奔驰东京时装周(Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo)的主题对于那些熟悉日本主流时尚品牌的拥趸来说，可谓耳熟能详，川久保玲（Commes des Gar?ons）、三宅一生(Issey Miyake)、Sacai、渡边淳弥(Junya Watanabe)、Undercover以及山本耀司(Yohji Yamamoto)这些日本品牌早已在巴黎家喻户晓。日本服装推出了诸多深黑色正装，对玩世不恭的风格进行尝试，并且呈现出非对称性，尤其有意混淆西方男女装之间的界限。
“There is no gender here,” says designer Hiromichi Ochiai after his Tokyo show for brand Facetasm, one of the week’s most eagerly awaited. “The collection has diverse influences but I’ve been inspired by townspeople, and I’ve used techniques usually applied to womenswear on menswear.”
“日本服装没有明显的性别界限，”设计师落合宏理(Hiromichi Ochiai)说，他在东京时装周上成功推出了自己设计的品牌Facetasm，这也是本届时装周上最翘首以待的品牌系列之一。“该系列时装的设计理念源自多种影响，但我的设计灵感来自都市人群，我把女装的常用设计手法嫁接到了男装上。”
Male models at the Facetasm show itself took to the runway in black, grey and white skirts made of leather, denim and soft cotton, while women wore menswear influenced outfits including baggy grey shorts paired with a white hoodie and knee-length grey trenchcoat over simple straight-leg blue jeans.
本届Facetasm时装秀的男模特身穿皮草、牛仔布及柔棉布等布料的黑色、灰色以及白色衬衣亮相T型台，而女模特穿的时装系列明显受到男装风格影响，其中包括连帽上衣搭配的灰色松垂短裤以及用简约款直筒牛仔裤搭配的灰色军用防水及膝短大衣。
In fact, the man-skirt, often in black, was a theme of the week, perhaps given a boost after singer Kanye West wore a black Givenchy “kilt” on his world tour. Facetasm also featured checks in blue, yellow and white, and recurring horizontal slits on the front of high-waisted skirts and trousers.
事实上，男裙（通常为黑色）是本届时装周的时尚主旋律。在歌星坎耶·维斯特(Kanye West)身穿纪梵希(Givenchy)黑色“格子褶裙”举行世界巡回演唱后，男裙或许会有亮丽表现。Facetasm还采用蓝色、黄色以及白色方格面料，并不时在高腰裙及高腰裤前侧开几条水平狭道。
Styles appropriate for both adults and children also featured in another blurring of lines. Né-net, a brand that, according to its website, “can be shared by couples, parents, and children”, put models male and female – including one very young girl – in big, powder blue straight-leg rolled trousers and white shirts and ankle-length dresses covered with the print of a big bluebird, a motif of its show.
适合成年人以及孩童的服装系列还呈现模糊线条风格。根据Né-net同名网店宣传，该品牌“情侣、夫妇以及孩子都适合穿”，它让旗下男女模特（包括一位小女孩）穿上大号的浅灰蓝色热轧直筒长裤、白衬衣以及印有一只大知更鸟图案（Né-net时装主花纹）的长裙亮相T型台。
Nozomi Ishiguro’s accomplished haute couture show displayed an array of jackets, dresses, and shorts in layered colours with heart-shaped and circular holes, as well as T-shirts inspired by US sportswear decorated with cartoon advertisements for “Tambourine Perfect Fried Chicken”.
石黑望(Nozomi Ishiguro)功成名就的高端女装秀展出了夹克、裙装以及短裤等各个系列，它们分层设色，并专门饰以心形孔及圆孔；此外还推出了T恤衫，其设计灵感源自美国体育品牌，上面印有专为完美炸鸡游戏(“Tambourine Perfect Fried Chicken”)做的卡通广告图案。
The serious atmosphere at Christian Dada was broken by a surprise appearance from the American rock band Kiss, to the delight of the audience, after a show that featured both men and women in tiny black shorts, slim black or white shirts – some buttoned at the back, loose belted tops and black leather jackets and miniskirts.
在Christian Dada时装专场，男女模特身穿小黑短裤、紧身黑色（白色）衬衣出现在T型台（不乏背后开扣的装束、宽松的束腰上衣、黑色皮夹克以及超短裙），美国摇滚乐队Kiss突临秀场，现场观众欣喜若狂，Christian Dada品牌原有的庄重严肃的时尚风格为之一变。
Futuristic looks were also a theme. At Anrealage, hemlines rose and fell – literally – on black-and-white checked dresses seemingly fitted with electronic wires (reminiscent of Hussein Chalayan’s spring/summer 2007 collection). The models would stop while a long dress became a miniskirt, and then move on.
未来风格同样成为本届东京时装周的主题。看似暗埋电线的Anrealage黑白格子裙的底边呈现起伏状（让人不由得想起侯赛因·卡拉扬(Hussein Chalayan)2007春夏季时装专场）。当长裙突变为超短裙时，模特们会在T型上驻足一会儿，然后继续走常
Tellingly, however, Anrealage, like a number of other Japanese labels, showed outside the official schedule and yet others are showing over the course of a month, making it tough to present a united front to the international fashion crowd.
但很显然，与其它众多日本品牌一样，Anrealage还在官方安排的时间之外举办专场，而其它品牌举办专场的时间则历时一个月之久，如此一来，东京时装周给国际时装圈人士的感觉是各自为政，很难形成“统一战线”。
But if ministry bureaucrats get their way, the government will soon be able to use its significant resources to promote Japanese brands to a wider audience. Plans are under way for a “Cool Japan” campaign, prominently featuring the cartoon character Pikachu, of Pokemón fame.
但相关部门如果积极作为，日本政府很快就能调集重要资源进一步提升本国品牌的市场知名度。诸如“酷日本”(“Cool Japan”)活动的行动计划正稳步推进，主打形象《宠物小精灵》(Pokemón)中的卡通人物皮卡丘(Pikachu)。
Japanese fashion sales are already significant in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand but that is not be enough for some designers with bigger plans.
日本时装在港台、新加坡以及泰国等国家与地区的销售额已经大幅增加，但对那些雄心抱负的设计师来说，这样的业绩还远远不够。
“We want to go international,” says Hiromichi Ochiai of Facetasm. “We want to take on the world.”
“我们希望走向世界，”Facetasm品牌设计师落合宏理说。“我们希望成为国际流行品牌。”
Next week: fashion spotlight on Lagos
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Ambush配饰的海外市场路线
Accessory focus: Ambush marketing
日本规避风险的企业文化以及巨大的国内市场（日本是世界第三大经济体，几乎所有国民都是中产阶层以及时尚拥趸）意味着它“很难把本国品牌推向国际市场，”日本嘻哈歌手Verbal说，他与妻子一起进军时尚界，成功创办了自己的配饰系列品牌Ambush。
Japan’s risk-averse business culture and its huge local market – Japan is the world’s third-largest economy, and everyone one meets seems to be middle-class and fashion-obsessed – means it can be “tough to take brands abroad,” says Verbal, a Japanese hip-hop performer who has branched into fashion with his designer wife Yoon, to create an accessories line called Ambush.
“日本设计师往往只爱盯着本国市场，”他补充道。“投资商往往觉得，‘为何要冒如此大的风险拓展海外市场呢？’”
“Japanese designers tend to stick with the Japanese system,” he adds. “Investors tend to think, ‘why should we risk ourselves going overseas?’ ”
时装从业人员通常只专注本国市场，“不愿费力帮助本国品牌进军国际市场，”Yoon说。
The fashion business community generally concentrates on the local market and would “not have been likely to help push the brand to sell internationally,” adds Yoon.
“Nomad”是Ambush最新推出的系列，其设计灵感来自邪典动画片《阿基拉》(Akira)。它专门推出了粗重的金银项链，它们外裹连环漫画册的亮丽颜色，与昔日的嘻哈艺术“遥相呼应”。如今它已在纽约巴尼斯(Barneys)公开销售，很快便会在伦敦的塞尔福里奇百货公司(Selfridges)与布朗百货店(Browns)上架销售。
Ambush’s most recent collection, “‘Nomad”, was inspired by cult animated film Akira. It features huge, heavy gold and silver chains wrapped in comic-book bright colours that nod to old-school hip hop. It is now on sale at Barney’s in New York and will soon be available at Selfridges and Browns in London.
他们夫妇俩充分利用了自己的海外人脉，个人投入的不多资金源自Verbal本人歌唱生涯的积攒。如今Ambush配饰40%的销售收入来自海外市常“我们不仅单单靠本国市场的恩赐，也开拓了国际市场，”Verbal说，“此举又反过来帮助我们在国内市场取得成功。我们在纽约巴尼斯门店成功销售后，日本的巴尼斯门店主动与我们接洽。”
The couple relied on their connections abroad and a small personal investment funded by Verbal’s music career. Now, 40 per cent of Ambush’s sales are overseas. “Instead of having to get blessings here from the local system, we just went abroad,” says Verbal. “And then that got us more success here in Japan. After we were in Barney’s in New York, Barney’s here contacted us.” |
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