Emerging designers Asia Fashion Collection present at NYFW FW23

After Asia Fashion Collection (AFC) announced this season’s finalists in early February, the five selected young designers showcased their collections on the runway of New York Fashion Week FW23/24 on February 13.

The Asia Fashion Collection (AFC) is an incubation project that aims to provide a platform from emerging fashion design talent throughout East Asia.

AFC is an initiative by Vantan educational group Japan and Japanese company Parco which strives to promote the arts.

Each season, the designers must first compete in the Tokyo Preliminary. The handful of emerging brands, or finalists, who win this competition are invited to present their collection on the NYFW stage, for a global audience. A panel of expert judges selected this season’s finalist, which included Kaname Murakami, editor-in-chief of WWD Japan, Fumiya Yoshinouchi, Fashionsnap editor and director, and Keishu Abe of Tokyo Base.

All the brands and designers who participate in the AFC are from Asian countries.

At the most recent edition of NYFW, five designers presented both womenswear and menswear collections.

The creatives selected to present their collections in New York in February were Japanese designers and Vantan Design Institute Toyo graduates Saika Sekita of fashion brand Saika and Jun Nakamura from fashion brand Désir.

In addition, FromWhere, the brand by South Korean designer Lee Young Eun, London College of Fashion (LCF) graduate ChiaHung Sun of Taiwanese brand Chiahung, and Parsons graduate Asato Kitamura of the Asato brand also had the opportunity to showcase their designs on the NYFW stage.