Over the weekend, students of Vantan Tokyo shared their collections with the rest of the world. When walking into the show, the room was dim with red lighting illuminating the "Vantan Tokyo" sign on the back wall. Soft, melancholy music kept a  suspenseful and dramatic feel in the air. However, as soon as the lights came on, the stage lit up and the models started walking out transforming the energy to fast-paced and upbeat. 

The SWANZI collection by Cheung Siu Yan was much more abstractly whimsical than the rest. The line contained dark blue, black, and green. She paired textured fabrics with interesting metallic tights. 

Cheryl Chee’s designs had a sense of functional-flair. She took ordinary pieces like a tulip skirt, vest, and long-sleeve dress and created a 3-D look in arbitrary places using more textured fabrics on top of cotton or polyester. She even managed to create this affect on silk pieces as well. It was definitely well thought out in that she took the pieces everyone should have, (an LBD, a white button down shirt, a high waist skirt, etc.) and turned them into functional pieces that will make a statement.

Yuya Kubohara’s line did an excellent job of demonstrating mixing and matching different abstract patterns. None of which was overwhelming as it was all toned down with black tights, simple shoes, and simple hair. The pops of color were a great addition to the pieces and paired well with the otherwise simplistic ensembles.

The Mi_s Fall ’12 collection by Masato Miyata took interesting patterns to a whole new level. Using white button downs and double breasted blazers as her blank canvases, she incorporated abstract patterns in unexpected colors.  We really enjoyed her use of pastel orange, blues and pinks, creating an original piece, while still maintaining a certain level of sophistication to the collection.