Fashion

Paris Fashion Week Features Innovative Japanese Brand CFCL; Uses 3D Programming, Recycled Materials to Minimize Waste

©CFCL Inc.
A model wears a colorful knit dress from CFCL that incorporates a traditional Japanese dyeing method and computer programmed knitting in Paris on Monday.

By Kensuke Fukushima / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

17:49 JST, September 24, 2024

PARIS — Among the fashion brands on display Monday as Paris Fashion Week began for the spring/summer 2025 collections was CFCL, a Japanese brand noted for its innovative use of 3D computer programming.

The CFCL show included a knit dress made with a traditional Japanese dyeing technique called chusen. The brand’s combination of technology and traditional methods thrilled the crowd.

CFCL’s computer-developed knitwear requires almost no cutting or sewing, which minimizes waste in its creative process. The brand also actively uses recycled materials made from plastic bottles.

These efforts helped CFCL become the first Japanese apparel maker to be certified as a B Corporation, an international certification given to companies highly regarded as beneficial to the public.

In addition to producing sustainable fashion, CFCL used the chusen dyeing technique to create vividly colorful attire for this latest collection. The technique is traditionally used in dyeing items such as tenugui cotton cloths.

“I hope [the CFCL collection] will be a starting point for people to juxtapose beauty and sustainability and also look at environmental issues,” said CFCL founder and creative director Yusuke Takahashi, 39.