On Monday, organizers of Tokyo Fashion Week announced that the fall season of Japan’s largest fashion event had been cancelled. It was scheduled to run for six days, from March 16 to 21. The announcement comes after several individual brands, including Hyke and Vivienne Tam, had already called off their Tokyo shows.
“As apprehensions due to the coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak rise daily, our primary and utmost concern always being the safety and security of all parties involved, after heavy discussions with related parties, we have come to the painful decision of there being no other choice than to give up Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo 2020 autumn-winter,” said a statement posted to the organization’s website.
Organizers said they would continue to work closely with the brands that had planned to participate in Tokyo’s fashion week, in order to help them gain business opportunities and promote their collections.
Tokyo was the latest casualty among the Asian fashion weeks, as both Seoul and Shanghai previously called off or postponed their events. However, as of Monday, Japan’s largest fashion trade show, Fashion World Tokyo, is still expected to go forward. It is scheduled for April 1 through 3