Melissa Castor
On Saturday, June 13th, attendees at AnimeNEXT in Somerset, NJ pulled up a chair and awaited the much anticipated h.Naoto fashion shows. Yes, plural – shows! There would be two shows showcasing two lines – STEAM brand and the FRILL brand. The audience was full of cosplayers, lolitas, and con attendees alike.
The lights dimmed and the ambient music began playing as the models came out and showed off Naoto’s STEAM designs. Please see our collection of photos below to see all of the outfits!
Following the first fashion show, h.Naoto came out for a Q&A with the audience regarding his STEAM line and any questions the audience may have. One of the most memorable questions was in regards to the fact this is no longer an era of steam punk fashion. Naoto’s answer stated that everyone loves Lolita fashion today. If everyone pushed for steam punk fashion in the same sense, maybe it could be revived.
After a short intermission, the models remerged in the FRILL line of clothing. They had changed their hair and makeup during the Q&A/intermission and now wore, as the name suggests, frilly clothes. The pictures below speak for themselves. FRILL can be considered more of an every day clothing versus STEAM, which is very steam punk and not as easy to wear every day. But as Naoto said, if people began wearing it more frequently, it can become everyday wear! A second Q&A followed the FRILL show for Naoto to answer questions about this brand.
For a full set of images, please check out this album on Flickr.
