On now at the Barbican in London is an exhibition called 'Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion'.

Running until February the 11th 2011, it's the first exhibition in Europe to comprehensively survey avant-garde Japanese fashion; right from from the early 1980s to the present.

Curated by the eminent Japanese fashion historian Akiko Fukai, (Director of the the Kyoto Costume Institute), and designed by architect Sou Fujimoto, the exhibition explores the distinctive sensibility of Japanese design and its sense of beauty embodied in clothing.

Innovators such as Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto redefined the very basis of fashion, challenged established Western notions of beauty, and turned fashion very firmly into art. Kawakubo's protege, the techno-couturier Junya Watanabe also features in the exhibition, together with the acclaimed Jun Takahashi, and the new generation of radical designers including Tao Kurihara, Matohu and Mintdesigns.

Bringing together over a hundred garments from the last three decades - many rarely lent by KCI, some never seen before in the UK - the exhibition also includes films of notable catwalk shows and documentaries.

Head over to the Barbican Art Gallery to catch it; and maybe have something to eat or drink in their new dining spaces by SHH Architects too.