Tokyo New Designers

When Tokyo’s Young Creative Scene Lights Up Paris

On January 25, Paris became the stage for a new wave of creativity emerging from Tokyo.

Fourteen designers based in the Japanese capital, twelve solo designers and one duo, presented their collections at the Palais de Tokyo as part of an initiative led by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, designed to support and propel the next generation of fashion talent onto the international scene.

All of the designers featured are 2023 award recipients of two major competitions organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government: the Next Fashion Designer of Tokyo (NFDT) and the Sustainable Fashion Design Award (SFDA). Open to students and young creators living or studying in Tokyo, these programs nurture a new generation of designers defined by innovation, social awareness, and a forward-looking creative vision.

Hosted within the iconic Palais de Tokyo in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, the runway show unfolded in a distinctly contemporary setting. Seventy-five looks were presented, several revealed to the public for the very first time. The designers had been preparing meticulously for this moment, conceived as a bridge between Tokyo and Paris, between local experimentation and global exposure.

In front of an audience of nearly 350 fashion professionals, including international buyers, journalists, and industry insiders, the show was met with enthusiastic acclaim. The originality of the materials, the conceptual depth of the collections, and the diversity of creative expressions offered a compelling glimpse into the vitality and promise of Tokyo’s emerging fashion scene.

Kunihiko Morinaga

an Exceptional Mentor

Creative direction and artistic guidance were entrusted to Kunihiko Morinaga, founder of ANREALAGE and a key figure on the Paris Fashion Week calendar, where he has shown officially for 11 consecutive years across 24 seasons.

Renowned for his visionary approach at the intersection of fashion, technology, and conceptual art, Morinaga supported the designers in refining their silhouettes and narratives. The show also benefited from the expertise of first-rate professionals in show production, press and buyer relations, hair and makeup, many drawn from ANREALAGE’s own production team, ensuring an execution aligned with the highest international standards.

A WORLD

a Creative Manifesto

Titled “A WORLD”, the show explored the notion of multiple realities:

“It’s one world,

but also another world

that exists only within you.”

Both introspective and universal, the concept invited each designer to articulate a personal vision of the world, navigating between reality and imagination, inner identity and global perspective. This thematic approach resonates strongly with contemporary fashion concerns, where individuality, sustainability, storytelling, and meaning are increasingly central.

A New Generation

Takuto Tachizawa, Juno Mohri, Kanei Yamaoka, Misato Hayamizu, Yumie Matsumoto… Fourteen designers, each with a distinct background, yet united by a shared creative energy and a common ambition: to rethink contemporary fashion through deeply personal, experimental, and engaged practices. For this new generation of Tokyo-based designers, fashion extends far beyond the garment itself.

Through bold silhouettes, innovative materials, and intimate narratives, each creator explores their own “world,” drawing on Japanese cultural heritage while addressing global issues such as sustainability, technology, identity, and the relationship between the body and clothing. The result is a conceptual fashion that is at times poetic, at times radical, but always rich in meaning.

With the Tokyo New Designers Fashion Show in Paris, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government reaffirms its commitment to actively supporting emerging talent and positioning it sustainably within the international fashion landscape. Far more than a runway presentation, the initiative acts as a powerful global springboard, fostering direct dialogue between designers, buyers, press, and key industry players.

Ultimately, the project stands as a generational manifesto—shaped by a creative scene acutely aware of contemporary environmental, cultural, and social challenges, and determined to propose new forms of expression that are freer, more responsible, and more inclusive. A fashion that questions as much as it captivates.