Virtual shows, rainy rooftop catwalks and mask fashion. Designers and organizers alike twisted adversity into opportunity at the latest Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo, managing to innovatively host Japan’s much-anticipated fashion event despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are some of the week’s highlights and how Japan’s top designers are envisioning the spring and summer of 2021. (We have our fingers crossed that it’s a much more positive scene compared to the pandemic-consumed 2020.)

Creative outdoor runways 

Like its Paris and New York counterparts, Tokyo saw parks and outdoor spaces transform into fashion runways. Models weaved through pathways and foliage in Shinjuku Gyoen’s balmy greenhouse for TAAK’s show, while MIKIO SAKABE announced its 2021 Spring / Summer collection on the rooftop of the newly-opened Miyashita Park in Shibuya.

Despite the rainy weather at the latter, designers Mikio Sakabe and Shueh Jen-Fang’s choice of sheer fabrics, translucent raincoats and practical trainers were up to the task. Instead of soggy models with clothes clinging miserably to skin, the collection’s sweet pastel shades, crisp whites and puffy sleeves and skirts beautifully juxtaposed against the dark grey skies and reflected off the wet sheen of the ground.