Recently, at a talk I gave to the National Gallery of Victoria and again when discussing the cancellation of this season’s Japan Fashion Week, I alluded to the fact that the 11 March earthquake and the devastation that has followed has the potential to act as a moment of change for the Japanese fashion industry. Today we see two of the first signs of where that change might take us.
In a piece how luxury, British bootmaker John Lobb is faring in the county, Forbes revealed two interesting facts:
- John Lobb “has seen a significant uptick in sales in its Osaka store since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.”
- The sales increase has come about as a result of a large number of “affluent Japanese leaving the country.”
While the first point has all the hallmarks of the wealth solely investing in traditional quality at a time of crisis, the second highlights a broader change across a segment of Japan’s consumers. It’s this latter change that is likely to have the greater impact upon where fashion is heading in the country.
