Fashion Snoops

With the decision by Brazilian fashion designer Alexandre Herchcovitch to construct his first stand-alone boutique outside of Brazil in Tokyo last year, the Japanese capital’s current love affair with Brazilian fashion was, err, cemented. The sexy, razor blade shutters, seasonal patterned exterior, and write-up on the cool-hunter quickly established the boutique in stylish Daikanyama as a local and international shopping tourist destination.

The Daikanyama Herchcovitch boutique decorated to match the
S/S 08 collection.

But are people buying? This summer the city’s hottest shoes are hands down his plastic sandals done in collaboration with the iconic Brazilian Melissa brand. The brightly colored sandals are showing up in boutiques on fashionable feet in Daikanyama and Harajuku and have been replicated all over the city in the kind of Shibuya boutiques that have a long history of riffing on the latest Dolce and Gabbana items.

Herchcovitch-inspired plastic sandals at Shibuya 109

Sure, the heads behind Herchovitch wouldn’t have chosen Tokyo if his designs didn’t have a big following here. Sure, it is no secret that a certain population of Tokyoites has a soft spot for skulls and street fashion, not too mention larger than life colors and silhouettes. But how did his clothes make it big here in the first place? As a look at the map will tell you, Tokyo couldn’t be much further from Sao Paulo.

I am certainly not going to pretend to have discovered the secret, but let’s take a look at some of the factors going on behind the scene.

For the past few years, editions of Tokyo’s leading trade show Rooms have featured representation from ABEST, the Association of Brazilian Designers. In addition to the dozen or so apparel and accessories designers, the event has also featured elements like a “design-your-own-Havainnas” booth and after hours performances by artists flown in from Brazil in order to sell an image of a fun Brazilian lifestyle to buyers and journalists.

Juana de Arco certainly fits the image of wild Brazilian fashion

This image sells, especially the image of Brazil as the swimwear capital. This season, Brazilian designers have cornered the market for imported swimwear, a feat accomplished in part, I believe, because Japanese consumers with enough change want the best of the best. French wine, Italian suits, Brazilian bikinis; the bikinis may be risqué but the business venture isn’t.

Furthermore, Rooms is put together in collaboration with HP France, a powerful fashion organization in Japan that takes the form of buyer, event organizer, PR, and owner of several trend-setting boutiques scattered around the country. It is no surprise then that the following season HP France boutiques are stocked with the same South American designers, both the big names like Herchcovitch and new ones like Osklen and Tramando (okay, actually from Argentina). Following this cue, other trend-setting boutiques, like Dual, have also picked up Brazilian designers.

Japan’s connection with Brazil, however, dates back further than Tokyo’s rise as a lucrative market and extends beyond fashion. Since Japanese farmers begin immigrating to Brazil 100 years ago in search of a better life, the Japanese community in Brazil has grown to the largest outside of Japan. Now, with the economics tides having turned, many second and third generation Japanese-Brazilians are returning to Japan.

Poster from the Samba festival held every summer in Asakusa,
the area with the largest Brazilian community in Tokyo

Could something as unglamorous as a strong trade relationship and a ready number of bilingual, bicultural go-betweens have had an effect on the presence of Brazilian designers in Tokyo? And likewise, I wonder if Japanese fashion has made it to Brazil?