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Of tribes and queens

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Japanese fashion rarely makes it to the West these days - it's simply too expensive for most consumers. But it has reached New York, where a number of styles are showing in an exhibition at the Museum at the FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology).

Japan Fashion Now, curated by Dr Valerie Steele, examines the development of designers such as Issey Miyake since their heyday in the 1980s, and also looks at new designers such as Undercover. The show, on until January, also examines radical street styles including the Gothic Lolita look and the newer Forest Girl ensemble.

'I began by wondering what happened in the 30 or so years since the Japanese fashion explosion of the 1980s,' says Steele. 'There have been a few shows on contemporary Japanese fashion, but they have mainly focused on the big three designers from the 80s - Comme Des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake. I decided it would be interesting to design an exhibition that would be a virtual trip to contemporary Tokyo.

'I wanted to show the whole spectrum of Japanese fashion, beginning with the big three and finishing with today's new designers. I also wanted to represent the many street and sub-cultural styles,' she says.

The exhibition is split into two rooms, with the first acting as a kind of prequel by highlighting the now-classic 80s fashions. The importance of works by Miyake, Comme Des Garcons and Yamamoto - who were called the 'Crow Tribe' because of their fascination with black - cannot be underestimated, says Steele.

'Japan was the first Asian country to have an impact on global fashion. That happened in the 1980s with the so-called Japanese fashion revolution. It had a different relationship between body and clothes, and a different idea of beauty,' the curator says. 'There was a lot of black, and the clothes didn't make the body look sexy. It was linked to a new idea that fashion was like art. It was a huge success, although it was also controversial. Now it's viewed as a major turning point in fashion history.'

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