Ikuto may only be in high school but he’s already making connections in the world of fashion that other designers would envy; he’s still working as an assistant under the difficult designer Hajime Yanagida and he’s been personally invited to participate in a contest at Geika University, the top fashion school in Japan!
But Ikuto’s life is non-stop; between his part time jobs, school, caring for his siblings and mother, and now this fashion work on the side he starts to wonder, why does he continue to push himself down such a difficult path?
Volumes 3 and 4 of Smile Down the Runway continue in much the same vein as the first two volumes did, which is to say that Chiyuki has been completely pushed to the side and that I question the validity of at least half of the crafting Ikuto encounters in these volumes. I continue to be a bit baffled at how thoroughly Chiyuki has been written out of the story after serving as both the point of view and main character for the initial chapter; we know that her story isn’t done yet, after all she has yet to model at Paris Fashion Week, but Kotoba Inoya seems completely uninterested in having Chiyuki reappear outside of when Ikuto needs a morale boost.
I also continue to be baffled by the same kind of sewing irregularities that kept popping up in the first two volumes; yes there is a fashion consultant involved with Smile Down the Runway, but, while I’m mostly ambivalent on the actual fashion in the series, I have reached my breaking point with the crafting and creation aspect of the outfits. A major event in these two volumes is focused on Ikuto entering a competition at Geika Fashion College and competing against other fashion students to design an outfit for a famous model (on a doll in smaller scale); however, as we see what the other, actual fashion students start to create, with a few years of experience taught by professionals under their belts, I get the distinct feeling that my 19-year-old, self-taught self, with enough gaps in my knowledge to call it lace, knew far more about how clothing is actually made than these characters.
For example, it’s supposed to be a hurdle that Ikuto only has $50 to spend on materials for an 18 inch doll’s outfit vs. the $100 everyone else was able to afford and I am having a truly hard time figuring out how that would be an issue. For reference, given how small these dolls are I imagine that nearly every outfit we see created uses less than a yard of fabric total and the most expensive fabric I’ve personally come across was an $84 a yard wool for coats (none of the outfits highlighted used a material like that as far as I recall); not only should the dolls require far less fabric but considering that mock-ups are purposefully done with a different, cheaper fabric to save on costs, even with notions I’m still baffled by how this was supposed to be a challenge. This isn’t Project Runway where you’re trying to specifically produce a haute couture piece for a six foot model on a $100 budget!
Speaking of haute couture, I have my own opinions about real-world fashion outfits that are clearly meant to be worn for just a few minutes on a runway vs. clothing that’s closer to the “ready to wear” end of things; this challenge Ikuto is enrolled in doesn’t specify what clothing they are to make for the model (the openness is part of the challenge), but none of the outfits produced by the other designs seem to be haute couture, except in regards to their materials. One character is praised for making a semi-fitted top out of leather because ah yes, leather, the famously breathable and flexible material, that’s why you see it all the time as shirts instead of outerwear jackets! (sarcasm) Also, pairing leather and lace to show someone’s “hard” vs “soft” sides? I mean sure, the analogy works, but it’s so basic that (if this had been a critique in my photography classes) you’d be ripped a new one for such a “lazy” execution on the concept and not truly building on it to create something a seasoned and savvy supermodel would find “interesting.” Yet again I feel as if I know far more than the fashion students who the story keeps trying to convince me are geniuses. Yes, by this point in my life I have been sewing and cosplaying for nearly 15 years so I know some things, but usually authors are better at “fake it ’til you make it” when it comes to key aspects of their story like this!
Also, having the reveal for why the designer Hajime Yanagida doesn’t sew, a source of tension multiple times in the series so far (including the climax of volume 2 where Ikuto needed to personally retool an outfit for Chiyuki to wear on the runway), is because he’s scared of needles was baffling as someone who has a legitimate needle phobia. It would also probably be a surprise to my mother who, despite fainting just about every time she gets a shot for decades, does quilt making with a sewing machine for a hobby! Yes sewing your finger is traumatic but you either get over it or you don’t continue to do work that involves needles (you certainly don’t end up as a famous designer with no sewing skills and such a comical “fear”). Heck in the cosplay community there are plenty of jokes about how your (hand-made) cosplay isn’t done until you’ve bled on it!
At this point, I’d rather spend my time cursing out my own sewing projects (but hopefully not bleeding on them) rather than trying to relax while reading this series.