'Attack on Titan': The Anime That Made it to the Runway

In a post-apocalyptic fictional world, the last thing anyone would worry about is staying fashionable, but for Hajime Isayama’s hit anime “Attack on Titan”, fashion seems to be quite relevant for this popular series. Shingeki no Kyojin or commonly known in English as “Attack on Titan” is originally a manga series by Hajime Isayama, and published by Kodansha Comics.

The huge success of the series led to an ongoing anime adaptation produced by WIT and MAPPA Studios. The story takes place in an apocalyptic world where humanity is threatened by blood-thirsty giants, or more commonly known as Titans, whose only targets are only humans, in order to keep humans from being devoured, three major protective walls are built. Humanity’s survival is threatened and chaos arises when one of the walls is attacked by one of the ferocious giants, leading to the rise up of the main protagonist, Eren Jaeger and his childhood friends: Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert. 

On their quest for survival and Eren’s born passion for avenging his deceased mother, the three join the Scout Regiment, the military branch that ventures outside of the walls to discover the truth about the titans, led by Commander Erwin smith and his right-hand man, Captain Levi. The story is filled with many dramatic and heartbreaking scenes, including many unexpected and plot-twisting moments. 

The beauty of this collaboration was the way that the products were advertised. In the advertisement of the collaboration, real-life models weren’t the main concept; in fact, the ones that advertised the collection was none other than the main protagonists of the anime.

Now that the foundation of the story has been established, one may really wonder… How can an apocalyptic world contribute to fashion? As a fashion enthusiast, one could start with analyzing the uniforms used. The attire consists of harnesses, belts, white pants, knee-high dark brown boots, a camel-colored jacket with cuffed long sleeves and with an embroidered emblem of the respective military branch a soldier belongs to on the chest pockets and back, as well as a hunter green colored hooded cape with the branch’s emblem on the back, to pull the look together. 

Some characters level up their uniforms by adding accessories such as: scarves, hoodies, bolo ties and even cravats, to express their personalities. The design of the traditional uniform has been quite popular with fans that even cosplays have been made of it. But is this where “Attack on Titan’s” fashion ends? Certainly not. The uniform is soon changed into a full black bodysuit that accentuates the figure, a silver armor like chest plate with the emblem is added. 

Both uniforms have quite a unique and appropriate design which has caused fans to feel quite satisfied with them and the way they impact and symbolize the story. The fashion in Attack on Titan expands past the fictional world and into our own. Aside from cosplay, the popularity of the series has led to a lot of collaborations being done with the studios and different companies for advertisement purposes. A very important collaboration that was a huge integration of fashion in “Attack on Titan” and vice versa, was the Shingeki no Kyojin x ONE SPO Runway Show for Tokyo Girls.

The collection consists of a darker toned color palette, some of the main colors found are white, black, gray, burgundy and golds. The garments consist of: hoodies, skirts, crop top sweaters and even a sweater with zippers on the sleeves to remove according to liking. Many accessories such as belts and even black harnesses are added, similar to the ones used in the original anime uniform which is a very incredible touch. One of the skirts has the anime’s season three poster printed and spread around the skirt which really pulls the look together. 

The beauty of this collaboration was the way that the products were advertised. In the advertisement of the collaboration, real-life models weren’t the main concept; in fact, the ones that advertised the collection was none other than the main protagonists of the anime. The artwork for the collaboration focuses on the characters dressed into the looks that would be shown in the runway show. 

Each character wears a specific outfit that really matches their personalities, not only that but it was a very creative touch to advertise the collaboration in this way because it draws fashion enthusiasts and fans of the series closer. The color choices of the artwork were cleverly picked as well. The grayish background does not draw attention away from the main characters and their clothing and this detail allows the viewers to appreciate not only the designs but also the way the characters are posing as if they were life models. 

I think that using the original characters to advertise the runway show and collaboration was quite innovative because fans felt even more interested in the collaboration due to the familiarity with the characters presented in the collaboration. Although this project has been one of the most important fashion collaborations, “Attack on Titan” is often advertising collaborations with a variety of different products and multiple companies. Though the reality existing in “Attack on Titan” is very cruel and heartbreaking, its most beloved characters have broken the wall between their world and ours and made Japan’s fashion runways rumble with these exquisite designs.