Ashley Clarke covers Tokyo fashion by writing for Vogue Runway, a specialized platform broadly recognized by apparel industry insiders.
His aim is to showcase the allure of brands from Japan for trend-conscious audiences the world over.
He does this by working closely with his wife, Reina, 32.
Ashley, 33, is from Grimsby, a port town in eastern Britain. He wrote about fashion for a newspaper company in London for a year and a half before deciding to go it alone.
His dream was to live in a strange country, which brought him to Japan in 2016.
Ashley met Reina at a brand operator’s catwalk event, where she was part of its staff at the venue.
After returning to Britain a year later, Ashley remained in constant touch with Reina, who was staying in Paris as a student. They married in 2021.
Ashley and Reina moved to Tokyo the following year.
Explaining the reason, Ashley described the Japanese capital as more “mysterious” and interesting than London, where he had lived since he was 18 years old.
Building her own career now as a freelance stylist, Reina still makes time to help her husband. With her network of contacts in Paris and London, Reina is often in demand for styling offers for photo shoots from non-Japanese media.
“I promote Japanese brands, including lesser-known ones,” Reina said.
During Tokyo Fashion Week, Reina accompanies Ashley to act as interpreter when needed.
As a conduit for clothing designers in Tokyo, Ashley and Reina help them capture the attention of buyers from around the world.
Now that the ins and outs of fashion shows in Tokyo are quickly shared on Vogue Runway, there’s no longer a need for designers to travel all the way to Paris or Milan to gain international exposure.
Ashley, who works constantly to refine his Japanese skills, spoke of his future plan in Japanese.
“Young designers in Japan have fantasy, and I see potential in them,” he said. “I will be writing about both the good and bad points.”
