13th Tokyo Girls Collection to be held Sept 3 in Saitama

Last year's Tokyo Girls CollectionJapan Today

TOKYO —

The 13th Tokyo Girls Collection 2011/12 Autumn/Winter will be held at Saitama Super Arena on Saturday Sept 3. The wildly popular biannual collection, which lasts about six hours, draws well over 20,000 young women as well as many foreign media, looking to see the latest “kawaii” (cute) fashions worn by Japanese models and celebrities.

The theme for the September show is Smile for ” “. Organizers said the blank space is for people to fill in as they see fit and added that they hoped the show would help restore hope, courage and strength to girls and make everyone smile again, following the March 11 disaster. For the day, the venue will be renamed Saitama Smile Arena.

“We also hope that girls, who had been hesitant to buy clothes, will remember the magic of shopping—how it makes you smile when you find something cute or wonderful—and enjoy shopping again,” a spokesperson said.

Before and during the six-hour show, the arena will have food and drink stalls showcasing the specialties of the Tohoku region to support the recovery effort.

Models scheduled to participate include Anna Tsuchiya, Yu Yamada, Elena, Karina, Reina Triendl, Maki Nishiyama, Anna Nose, Emiri, and many more. The day’s program also includes live performances by artists, charity auctions and collaborative shows.

Advance tickets go on sale Aug 6 for the general public. Ticket prices range from 5,500 yen for unreserved seats to 15,000 yen for Arena Platinum seats.

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