While a typhoon is approaching, JFW Japan Creation 2010 A/W opens today, October 7th, and will be held until October 9th. At the entrance, you will first see the Trend & Index Corner. The general theme is “Strangeness and Creativity”. In an age when creativity is made from all angles, totally chaotic distracting thoughts are driven away to continue a strong advancement for making a new future, and it is a call or expression of intention for creating something new with changes with the age of the creativity of fashion. The Trend & Index Corner is composed of four theme zones: “Scents of Privacy”, “Scientific Aspirations”, “Melodious Unevenness”, and “Layered Beauty - West & East”, and includes the Eco Textile Zone and Support Industries Zone.

Designer Collaboration exhibits new garments that are manufactured jointly by designers and apparel manufacturers from Japan Fashion Week (Tokyo Collection Week) and Joint Exhibition and companies participating in JFW-JC. The theme this time is “Dyeing and Processing Expression”, and 12 brand apparel designers and 27 participating companies collaborate and display 29 styles. Special processing expressions and individual and original designs attracted the attention of visitors, such as knitted fabrics containing fur, woven fabrics with feathers, a special wool treatment that provides a foam-like surface touch, etc.

	Ms.Hiromi Yoshida, “Japan's Textile Technology Is Terrific.” I'm a designer, and am always handling fabrics. It was a rare occasion to work together with processing firms, and this itself was a fresh experience. I feel anew that Japan’s technology for textiles is superb. In the past, we used to order fabrics from textile wholesalers. Today when we can work together with textile manufacturers, the communication is very smooth. Our ideas are understood by the manufacturers, and they even propose new ideas. This time, I worked with four companies, and negotiations with each of them were very friendly and constructive. A major problem was the time difference from our own collection. I was busy with my spring/summer collection, and this show is for autumn/winter collections. The time lag was greater than I imagined, but I enjoyed the collaboration very much.
	Mr.Fumio Akiyama of Fumio proposed natural dyes, silk and other eco materials. He cut and finished linearly and straightly so as not to waste the precious materials. The black vest and printed one-piece were manufactured to possess drape by virtue of sewing together vertical cut fabric pieces.
	Mr.Naoshi Sawayagi of Naoshi Sawayanagi has a concept of “wearing materials”, and makes three-dimensional garments by making use of flat planes of fabrics. The skirt is designed to be a round circle when spread out widely, and a square center padding is inserted, so that the drape may look nice and neat. A fabric that has been shrunk so that it does not unravel is used for the sleeves in cut-off form.
	Mr.Seishin Matsui of Sise dared to use materials that he does not use for his own brand. His works are simple but gorgeous, using a transfer print on Morphotex and portions of needle-punched fabrics for the jacket. Similarly, a leaf-shape pattern is formed on the fabric by needle punching, and is coordinated. A black denim is processed by acrylic putting to create a clean image.
	Ms.Yoshiko Kato of Lep Luss used her favorite calender-finished fabrics. To emphasize the quality of the material, the yellow one-piece is only folded back at the front, and is finished almost without cutting. The fake fur is thin and printed in a yellowish green color to add accent.
	Mr.Yuichi Yoshizaki of Ganglion designed this time with “skin touch” as the theme. The fur has warmth that is reassuring as when it is felt in the darkness. Making the most of the material, a rabbit-shaped fur is attached to the front side of the one-piece. To make a pair with another piece, a rabbit is embroidered. The fine leather-like material is firm and tense, and is lighter than it appears to be. Although it is for the autumn/winter season, it is actually used for the spring/summer collection.

In JFW-IFF Creator’s Village (CV), five creator companies are exhibiting under coordination of Senken Shimbun Co., Ltd. This corner is a place for the proposal of creation, presenting the activities of original equipment manufacture (OEM) to visitors including apparel manufacturers and retailers. CV promotes collaboration between JFW-JC participants and different trades. From this season, the JFW-JC coordinators are providing support to promote a meeting between JFW-JC participants and CV participants.

	Le'sac Co. Le'sac, a manufacturer-distributor of leather goods, has started stock sales of crocodile leather dyed in 12 colors. The minimum sales unit is one piece in one color. Usually, the dyeing lot is at least 10 pieces in one color, but the price of crocodile leather has been rising recently, and the needs for smaller lots are greater. For such reasons, the stock sales of Leatherac will probably be widely noticed.
	Ampersand Ampersand is a manufacturer of bags and leather fashion items, and hand dyes the leather itself. Therefore, one of its strong points is that the company can accept orders from a minimum of one piece. A shoe maker by origin, its staffers had been manufacturing bags, and they are now also planning and selling fashion goods other than shoes, purses and bags.
	FANCY WORKS Fancy Works is a manufacturer-distributor of lace products, such as stoles, shawls and bags. All of its products are original and produced in Japan. When it participated in the previous JFW-JC, the company received many inquiries about original equipment manufacture (OEM). This time, Fancy Works has started taking OEM orders.
	Violette Room Violette Room is a women’s wear brand started by two women, and has entered full-fledged business just recently this September. About 20 items selected from its 2010 spring/summer collection are on display. Using fabrics and buttons collected from around the world, Violette Room apparel is comfortable to wear in daily life.
	MINERVA Minerva Co. is a hat manufacturer. All of its hats are made in Japan, and women’s hats are sold by stock sale. The collection consists of two lines: Athenai basic line and Border casual line. OEM production is also possible.

London’s popular “bunugo cafe” is also at JFW-JC.