On September 3, 2025, during Rakuten Fashion Week TOKYO 2026 Spring/Summer, Japanese heritage label Haute Mode Hirata presented a special runway show at Shibuya Hikarie Hall A as part of the third day’s schedule. The show, which began at 15:00, marked a commemorative event within the broader fashion week that ran from September 1 to September 6, 2025, celebrating the brand’s historical legacy and its contributions to Japanese fashion culture.
Haute Mode Hirata’s presentation was organized to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the birth of its founder, Akio Hirata, a milliner whose work influenced hat design and craftsmanship in Japan. For this anniversary show, members of the Hirata family participated in the creative direction: Ouko Hirata, who leads the atelier and trained under Akio Hirata, and the next generation of designers, Saki and Sho Hirata, each contributed to the lineup. The show sought to reconsider the contemporary role of hats in fashion through a generational lens, emphasizing both the continuation of traditional technique and its evolution for modern contexts.
The runway featured hat designs as the central element of the presentation, with 31 distinct pieces developed for the show. These hats were styled alongside clothing created by emerging designers, with costume design support from Ryunosuke Okazaki, Takuya Isagawa, and Tatsuya Tamada, reflecting collaborative efforts among multiple creative voices within the Japanese fashion community. The arrangement of the seating followed a spiral formation, a design choice intended to invoke the flowing lines characteristic of handcrafted hats and to integrate the audience within the presentation space, as models moved at a deliberate pace through the layout.
Guests and attendees included individuals wearing personal hat selections, underscoring the cultural resonance of the millinery tradition within the event. Material choices for the collection included innovative applications such as tulle decorated with Nebuta washi paper and specially treated leather using Kyoto’s traditional Kyo-yuzen technique, indicating a blend of artisanal methods with contemporary design exploration. The show’s composition and staging underscored both the historical significance of the label and its ongoing engagement with craftsmanship and materiality.
Official Brand Links:
Haute Mode Hirata Official Page: https://www.hiratatelier.com/
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