In his 1972 book Ways of Seeing, John Berger asserts, “Glamour cannot exist without personal social envy being a common and widespread emotion.” Many would consider this envy as the crux of the fashion discipline. When we observe impressive fashion, we recognise something beyond technical harmony—it’s a proximity to perceived perfection that sparks the thought: What if that were me? Articulating glamour is elusive, especially as it is something felt rather than defined. The recently concluded Tokyo Fashion Week saw designers grappling with this very question, offering an exegesis on the friction between allure and longing. Long celebrated for their mastery of craftsmanship, textiles, and design, Japanese designers have become revered in if-you-know-you-know crowds. This season, Tokyo Fashion Week employed a measured approach to glamour and its emotional connotations.

Glamour, and the envy it inspires, is heavily tied to the unattainable. For Yueqi Qi’s 2025 show, it came by way of the superhuman. Drawing inspiration from Catwoman—a figure as wily and agile as she is hyper-feminine—the collection played with the semiotics of power and play. Cat-shaped masks, dramatic hoods fringed with lace ribbons, and capelets reminded us of the Dionysian force behind vigilantism, something Qi acknowledged: “I tried to show this really wild identity that’s chaotic, but then finesse everything.” Qi extended her unruliness through oversized fur hats and trimmed coats, flouncy skirts, and matching ensembles made from the synthetic lining of Lamborghini interiors.

Known for her commitment to the Chinese handicraft revitalisation movement, Qi incorporated intricate embroidery and glass beadwork into the collection. The opening look paired a hoodie, softened by a sheer babydoll blouse, with black chandelier-style beaded shorts that reflected the designer's training at Chanel’s Parisian embroidery ateliers. While nodding to the jewel-thieving habits of her muse, Qi’s designs posed questions of wearability, where intricate layering and impractical textures—note the macramé gown—collided. Meanwhile, the more imitable elements of the show, like the models’ smeared black eyeliner, low bangs, oversized belts, and darkened previous Harajuku imagery.

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For Pillings’ Fall 2025 presentation, knitwear took on the patina of time, feeling more organic than stylised. Layered with textural dust motes, the garments evoked the sense of being pulled from a grandmother’s attic in a loving act of revival. Fabric manipulation lay at the heart of the collection, with moth-eaten textures and warped proportions lending an eerie, almost alive quality to the pieces. Sweaters swelled at the gut, distorting the body with the illusion of bloated bellies, while sock-shaped motifs and other protruding, fungal-esque masses were layered atop dresses. Matching ensembles made up a significant portion of the show, where tops were paired with skirts that mirrored the strange textures and shapes of their cardigan counterparts.

Staying true to their experimental approach, Pillings' collection embraced unpredictability. Wool fabrics were intentionally shrunk without a set plan, resulting in strange, organic silhouettes. Many pieces bore the traces of chance: textural irregularities, stretched weaves, and shapes that shifted with the wearer. As models moved down the runway, an atmospheric sense lingered, almost as if the garments were releasing a faint scent of petrichor.

Pillings' collection, which continued the experimental knitwear that defined the label’s 2022 and 2023 presentations, showcased the designer’s commitment to fostering brand legacy since its rebranding from RYOTAMURAKI in 2020. In the show, we saw a return to neutral colours with dashes of maroon, while make-up and styling remained minimal, with all models wearing similar pairs of Oxfords.

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Tamme closed out Tokyo Fashion Week with a debut show. Formerly trained as a pattern cutter under Chitose Abe of Sacai, Tamme's creative director Tatsuya Tamada shares a deep affinity for military garb. Where Sacai embraces hybridity, Tamme's vision interrogates the foundations and consequences of martial aesthetics.

Tamada’s approach splayed open the etymology of the term “glamour," which, in ancient Celtic tradition, was thought to be a corruption of “grammar” and a form of magic that distorted reality. Tamada asked whether glamour could be a form of illusion. He wondered, what could be more illusory than the constructs of masculinity reinforced through military dress? Tamada opened his show like a covert operation. From the blacked-out runway, models emerged in leather vests reminiscent of Kevlar, while the sharp tailoring of blazers and suits accentuated models' shoulders to project their strength and invulnerability. Skin was scarcely exposed; even the outermost extremities were shrouded in leather gloves. Where a loosened cargo jacket might have suggested relief, we were met with button-ups and ties peeking out from under bomber jackets—discipline layered atop discipline. Loose neckties were peppered throughout the looks, usually clipped at the throat or dangling from the waist in a blasé manner at odds with their militant outfits.

In Tamada’s hands, control is fluid. Jackets featured adjustable belts at the back, gathering fabric into geometric structures, while side zips and ties allowed silhouettes to shift at will. The collection’s palette remained grounded in navy and black, punctuated by oranges, jewel-toned pinks, and splashes of white, balancing the forces of yearning and persuasion in subtle ways.

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