In the movie "The Devil Wears Prada," which opens in Japan next month, an imperious fashion magazine editor played by Meryl Streep upbraids her new assistant, who has dared to snicker at a cerulean belt that the editor is considering for an ensemble. With withering condenscension, the editor somehow connects the belt's history to the assistant's frumpy knit sweater, explaining how every piece of apparel available today is a descendant of some haute couture decision made in the past. Basically, it's an economics lecture.

The Japanese fashion designer Hiroko Koshino made a similar point in an interview that appeared in the NHK documentary special "Tokyo Kawaii Wars," which aired Sept. 24. Koshino said that she believes her role in the fashion world is to be a "pioneer" -- to create trends that in the long run will affect the way women dress. For that reason, she doesn't think she should be expected to respond to what women want now.

This view of high fashion -- that its social function is much more significant than nonbelievers give it credit for -- was challenged by the program, which looked mainly at the ascension of what is called the "real clothes" fashion business, a grass-roots movement that has become so huge in Japan that the traditional fashion houses have been rendered anachronistic, regardless of how forward-looking they pretend to be.