Fashion

Fashion Meets Comedy in Unique Tokyo Show of New Designs of Yoshiokubo Brand

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:04 JST, September 5, 2024

It was fashion with a twist of comedy as the Yoshiokubo brand teamed up with the Yoshimoto Shinkigeki comedy troupe to display its new designs on Wednesday in Tokyo.

The fashion show was held at the Lumine the Yoshimoto comedy theater in Shinjuku Ward, part of the ongoing Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo that features about 30 brands from Japan and abroad.

In a typical fashion show, models strut down the runway with no expression on their faces. Designer Yoshio Kubo, 50, whose works have appeared in Paris and Milan, began to wonder if there wasn’t a better way to put on a show.

As a native of Osaka Prefecture, a hotbed of comedy, he decided to turn his love of campy humor into a collaboration with Yoshimoto Shinkigeki for the current show.

The show opened with a skit featuring noted Yoshimoto comedian Kanpei Hazama set in an udon restaurant. Suddenly, models walked out on stage and among the audience clad in Yoshiokubo’s newly designed blouson — which Hazama is also wearing — and other outfits.

It was a hit with the crowd. “We were able to create a new way to showcase the brand.” Kubo said.