Showa era

Published: July 27, 2026 · Updated: July 27, 2026

1926–1989

Showa dress swung from wartime austerity to postwar Western clothing, and finally to global influence: monpe work trousers and a standardized national uniform in the war years gave way to everyday Western wear, while late-Showa Japanese designers upended Paris fashion.

Overview

In the war years the state promoted a standardized male national uniform (kokumin-fuku, 1940) and women wore practical monpe trousers. After 1945 ready-made Western clothing quickly became the everyday norm, and the kimono retreated to ceremonial use.

Key garments and style

From the 1970s Japanese designers reached the world stage — Kenzo Takada and Issey Miyake in Paris, then Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcons in 1981, whose spare, deconstructed black challenged Western ideas of clothing. At home the DC-brand boom of the 1980s made designer labels a mass phenomenon.

Transition

The kimono narrowed to coming-of-age, wedding and formal occasions, and the Heisei era would turn Tokyo’s streets into a fashion force of their own.

History of this period

Showa era