Ten days to go before the catwalk show and designer Sugimoto Chiyuki faces a critical decision. Who will show off the clothes he has spent the last six months creating for these Tokyo Collections?
Today is the day of the all-important casting, and outside the Ebisu offices of his press agent, a steady stream of minivans with blacked-out windows pull up to drop off 180-cm 16-year-old beauties, clutching portfolio testimonials of their photogenic talents.
Five fashion bigwigs sitting behind the desk upstairs will see more than 80 girls, from 13 different agencies, before finalizing the lineup of a dozen models for the big show.