author

 
Menu
Search
 
February 22, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Samuel Thomas

Meta

Samuel Thomas
Samuel Thomas is a fashion writer and lecturer in fashion media at Bunka Gakuen University. He regularly contributes to The Japan Times, among other publications, and provides consultancy services to industry clients.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 17, 2023
Japanese fashion can no longer afford to play hard to get
Is Japan’s air of aloof mystique still enough to convince foreign audiences to invest in Japanese fashion?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 6, 2023
AI will revolutionize Japanese fashion — just not right now
ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence engines are coming for everyone and everything, but the whims of the fashion world might be an unlikely bulwark.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Mar 11, 2023
March’s biggest fashion drops are mired in nostalgia
When fashion isn't just cyclical but unimaginative, it's a sign of a deeper issue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 11, 2023
Now in NYC, 2nd Street is banking big on old becoming new again
Another year of subdued New Year sales; another retro fashion retailer expanding overseas.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jan 7, 2023
Will Japan's pop culture and fashion spheres ever find common ground?
Japanese fashion and pop culture and both international forces, so why can't they seem to walk in step together?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Dec 10, 2022
At 2022’s close, all quiet on the crypto fashion front
Digital currencies have had a difficult end to 2022, but what does that spell for fashion brands who pushed them all year?
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 5, 2022
Japanese bra-makers place bigger spotlight on smaller sizes
Japanese women's breast sizes are increasing, but undergarment options for those on the smaller side remain low.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Oct 8, 2022
Mending fashion’s threadbare relationship with sustainability
Another season gone and another round of promises from designers the world over to become more eco-friendly dashed.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Sep 10, 2022
As fashion giants pass, the new guard prepares to pick up the torch
Issey Miyake and Hanae Mori have left big shoes to fill, but it's not yet clear who might take up the mantle of the next face of Japanese fashion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Aug 13, 2022
Dog days of summer bring grab bag of fashion fixtures
A departed legend, gaming deals and disrupted shows — summer's end is full of news for fashion watchers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jul 9, 2022
To catch a counterfeiter, Japan's fashionistas turns to Fake Busters
With hundreds of thousands on the line, it pays to know if your jewelry is authentic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 11, 2022
Can unlikely friendships kickstart fashion’s lackluster recovery?
Breaking down brand barriers may be the only way forward for Tokyo's couturiers
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
May 14, 2022
Fashion’s retail revolution: What’s old is new again
As pandemic precautions appear to ease, retail fashion grapples with a return to business as usual.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Apr 9, 2022
Tokyo fashion week not as fashion-forward as hoped
Not even a who's who of Japanese designers could overcome the uneven adoption of emerging tech at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Mar 12, 2022
Online status: If you build a virtual world of fashion, will they come?
Brands are seeking to replicate traditional models of scarcity in a metaverse where true abundance is possible.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 19, 2022
Expressing gender: Fresh approaches to unisex collections
A diverse fashion market is one that is broad enough to include everyone.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jan 29, 2022
NFT fashion collaborations: Virtual fashion, real demand
Consumers experiment with an NFT project that taps into Harajuku nostalgia from the 1990s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Dec 11, 2021
Retail therapy: Fashion outlets in battle to fight fatigue
Stores adopt a few innovative measures in a bid to prize open the wallets of domestic shoppers with overseas customers still shut out of Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 14, 2021
Shop to your heart’s content, without a staff member in sight
If you've ever felt Japan's customer service was too much, contactless shopping is on the rise. Meanwhile, pop culture-capsule collaborations vie for the title of “most shocking.”
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Oct 10, 2021
Anime aesthetics blur the line between real and virtual fashion
As some brands dip their toes into NFTs, others turn to nostalgia-with-shock-value to sell both real and virtual clothing.
Yen advances past ¥150 per dollar as BOJ rate-hike bets ramp up
The Japanese currency climbed as much as 1% to ¥149.95 against the dollar on Thursday, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Record percentage of Japanese firms plan wage hikes, survey shows
Some 61.9% of over 11,000 surveyed companies intend to pledge pay increases as part of annual wage negotiations culminating in March, according to a survey by Teikoku Databank.
Japan’s inflation speeds up, keeping BOJ on rate hike path
A customer visits a store along the Togoshi Ginza shopping street in Tokyo on Jan. 23. Rising fresh food prices contributed to the acceleration in overall inflation in January, as vegetable prices, including cabbage, soared.
Victor Wembanyama expected to miss remainder of regular season with blood clot
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (right) is expected to miss the rest of the NBA season, the team announced on Thursday.
Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
Japan’s English-language education doesn’t pass the test
One-third of elementary school students in Japan do not like learning English, according to a 2021 poll, an 8% rise since 2013. The pressure of taking proficiency tests is eroding children's engagement with studying English and its benefits.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’
SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER