Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo S/S 2027

For this season, the last one celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Japan Fashion Week Organization, there seemed to be common ground in the proposals the designers presented both in the official venue and in the different offsite locations. All of them had their feet on the ground in their approach to creating garments and pieces that would be able to find a realistic way into the wardrobe of the real-life consumer, but their eyes pointed to the sky in how genuine and honest they were with their own beliefs, what they love and their true identity as creators.

Twenty-seven designers had their collections on the runway, and despite some big names like Harunomubarata or Vivino deciding to present their new pieces off schedule, the audience was able to enjoy many crowd favourites, like pillings and Yoshiokubo, while discovering first-timers in the fashion week and foreign brands like Wisharawish from Thailand, WHiTENOOK from China, Sofia Carrasco from Spain, who was able to debut in Tokyo thanks to the collaboration between RUN x ANDAM FASHION AWARDS PARIS and JFWO, and Anthony Calydon, the French brand winner of this year’s ANDAM Pierre Bergé Prize. Amongst this variety of proposals, here you have our favourites of the season.

Yoshiokubo always knows how to place fashion in a real-life context. From understanding what the modern human needs – the comfort, the utility and the aesthetics – to knowing how to present his garments in scenarios where the context enhances the quality and the narrative of his concepts, in one more season we see the results of a designer who puts himself in both perspectives, the creator and the user. Inspired by a young man jogging along the Los Angeles coastline, this simple act, which may be understood as just exercise on the surface but that always ends up being more than just that, turning into a lone moment of peace, betterment, and self-reflection in many cases; Yoshio linked this momentary freedom of running to the nomadic spirit that has always been present in the human conscience.

In the past this nomadism manifested itself more literally, as necessity and survival instincts pushed humans to be constantly on the move. Now it is more subtle, but we still follow deeply human emotions when deciding to change locations. With an actual Mongolian Ger, a traditional nomadic house, placed in the centre of the runway as this connection to the roots of the concept, the modern and functional attire, leaning to the sportswear realms, as most of his work does, presented the unique characteristics that make it suitable for the everyday but that make it stand out from the rest. With subtle nods and the presence of nomadic-associated elements, like furs, nets, fringes, patterns and graphics reminiscent of the past, the highly technical pieces embodied the spirit of adaptation and craftsmanship in a modern way, proving how we are still always looking for something else, somewhere else.

Architecture has always involved much more than just the external appearance; behind every façade, there are layers, structures, frameworks, and systems that enable the final image to exist, and it is this understanding of construction that Mizuki Ueda incorporated into ENFÖLD’s latest collection. Looking at architecture as something that can be broken down into its different parts, she translated these elements into clothing, creating silhouettes where what lies underneath, what frames it and what eventually covers it are all important. Transparent fabrics placed over more opaque pieces allowed colours and shapes to appear differently depending on what was underneath them, creating optical illusions that could enhance, alter or blur the colours we thought we were seeing. Some of the garments were very complex in their construction and patterns, while others were relatively simple in their individual components, but once layered together, they reached a new level that came from the thought behind their construction and the way each part was intended to be perceived.

Inspired by Luis Barragán, the colours appeared through different surfaces and layers, changing depending on what was placed in front of them, while the graphics developed with Agata Yamaguchi embodied both architectural frameworks and the lines of blood vessels, bringing another kind of organic structure into the clothes. Even the setting followed this logic, with the columns of the Terada Warehouse wrapped in colourful fabric, turning something already present into another layer of the collection. It was this constant consideration of what happens when one thing is placed over another that made ENFÖLD’s pieces feel so three-dimensional, sculptural and forward-looking.

Not many designers can make something as simple as a cardigan feel like it has a life of its own, but Ryota Murakami, LVMH Prize Semifinalist in 2025, has mastered the art of finding beauty in the ordinary. This is what always makes pillings so special. Since its beginnings, pillings has been interested in the small details of everyday life, finding the special in things that would usually pass unnoticed, and this season that tender approach felt even more surreal. Clothes seemed to have been caught somewhere between how they actually looked and how we might remember them: flowers blurred into knitwear, familiar silhouettes became slightly misshapen, and textures appeared where we did not expect them. Nothing was completely unfamiliar, yet everything had been shifted enough to make us look again in a very subtle way of creating fantasy without needing to leave everyday life behind.

Pillings has become one of the names the audience looks forward to the most during Tokyo Fashion Week. The intimacy in the way Murakami works, where even the smallest decision can change the feeling of an entire garment, is so relatable because it speaks to our human sensibility. Presented inside the Asahi Shimbun headquarters on an ordinary Wednesday evening, the collection found its place among the routines of everyday life, making the familiar feel momentarily different. Reality is rarely as straightforward as we imagine it to be, and Pillings seems to understand that better than most.

Yushokobayashi knows how to make fashion feel like a game. For Mermaid’s Tears, the mermaid concept translated into the innocent fantasy of creatures from the sea getting dressed with whatever they had found beautiful, mixing clothes and accessories in messy but charming combinations. Knitwear resembling nets, hand-drawn flowers and fish, sequins like scales and little treasure-like details gave the collection a very DIY and artistic character, where the hand of the designer remained visible in almost every piece. It felt pure, free and genuinely playful, qualities that are becoming increasingly precious in fashion.

The fantasy continued into the staging, with seaweed, bubbles, crumbling columns and lights transforming the venue into a makeshift underwater world. The models moved through it slowly, their pace and cadence making them look almost like they were floating, giving the clothes a completely different life. Yushokobayashi created a whole atmosphere around the collection without losing the handmade quality that made the garments so appealing. In a moment when fashion can sometimes feel overly polished and calculated, this kind of imagination feels necessary: clothes made with curiosity, a little mess and the freedom to simply have fun.

Orimi has always understood that dressing properly has very little to do with following the rules and has based his brand on the idea of dissonance. To know how to deconstruct, you need to know how to construct, and Kenta Orimi knows the codes of tailoring well enough to recognise exactly where they can be pushed, and Properly Dressed plays with that boundary throughout the collection. As usual, his tailored garments look almost impeccable at first, but in his clothes there’s always something that feels slightly off: a jacket opens into a draped panel, shorts take the shape of oversized sleeves, and a seemingly elegant hat has its ribbon replaced by shoelaces. These small disruptions change the whole attitude of the clothes, keeping familiar codes while refusing to follow them completely.

This season that attitude speaks directly to the pressure of dressing correctly in a city where there always seems to be an appropriate way of looking and behaving. Orimi takes these expectations and makes them slightly uncomfortable, turning the polished into something stranger without losing what made it recognisable and without calling attention to itself or being extravagant for its own sake. The result is clothing for people who understand the rules and have decided they would rather play with them. Individuality here comes from knowing exactly how things are supposed to be done, and choosing to step a little to the side.

The Tokyo Fashion Week ended with a reminder that getting dressed can be a very simple source of happiness, all thanks to soduk. The collection gathered all the things Tsukasa Kudo loves, turning them into a personal wardrobe that, in its authenticity, ended up speaking a very universal language. The T-shirts carrying colourful prints and messages like “I’m approaching magnificent” and “Things get better with age”, trousers being worn with their buttons undone, and holes, embroidery and playful accessories being present in every look in a random and spontaneous way made it all feel alive. When dressing up, nothing needs to be perfectly put together, and that is a misconception that feels particularly important in this moment where every single move we do seems to have to be curated to perfection. Sometimes you wear the clothes you love, add whatever makes you smile and walk out the door, and that can be enough to change the mood of an entire day.

This idea extended to the way the show unfolded, with models leisurely changing clothes, looking at paintings, playing with tiny ring toys, eating bread and stopping to rest in little room-like spaces along the runway. It felt close to real life, where getting dressed, wandering around, finding something you like and simply enjoying being there rarely follows a plan. The indigo T-shirts, colourful accessories and custom KEEN shoes added to this sense of freedom, creating a world where personal taste and style mattered more than how perfect it all was. soduk’s understanding of fashion has always been rooted in the people who wear it, and LOVE made that philosophy feel especially clear: clothes can be meaningful simply because we like them.