The last Uniqlo and Kaws collaboration back in 2019 brought about a frenzy of shoppers who were fighting tooth and nail for the coveted T-shirts and tote bags. Now, the American artist is teaming up with Uniqlo again to release a special collection in line with his upcoming exhibition at the Mori Arts Center Gallery, which is set to open July 16.

Nike SB has teamed up with Japanese streetwear label WACKO MARIA to reimagine two of the footwear brand’s most popular sneakers: the Blazer and the Janoski. The collaboration retrofits legendary Nike kicks with WACKO MARIA’s wild aesthetics. Nike SNKRS sat down with WACKO MARIA founder Atsuhiko Mori to discuss the concepts behind the designs:

If you’ve been outside any time in close to the last 11 months or so, you likely noticed that thanks to COVID-19, a majority of people around the world have been wearing masks to try to help curb the transmission of the virus. In Japan, you see people with masks with or without a pandemic and designer masks have always been a thing out here. The likelihood of wearing a mask at any given time in Japan is quite high because people wear masks for a variety of reasons, not always for being sick. Sometimes people just want to wear it because they’re uncomfortable with how they look, if they didn’t want to do their make-up, if they’re going to be on a train, or pretty much any other reason that you could possibly imagine. Being in a country where mask usage is as high as it is, sometimes you want to have a mask that fits your favorite hobbies or brands and that is exactly what the company Original Stitch is doing with their new Pokémon Shirts Mask line up.

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.