Practical Fashion for the Other End of Life

By Joseph Coleman, Associated Press

September 30, 2008

Japan

Final stage fashion: A model holds up a number matched to the type of adult diaper being worn while a screen in back explains its design at a fashion show Thursday in Tokyo organized by the Aging Lifestyle Research Center. AP PHOTO 

One after the other, the models strutted across the stage to bouncy '80s dance tunes, all showing off designs of the same article of clothing — adult diapers.

Final stage fashion: A model holds up a number matched to the type of adult diaper being worn while a screen in back explains its design at a fashion show Thursday in Tokyo organized by the Aging Lifestyle Research Center. AP PHOTO 


Japan has one of the world's most rapidly aging societies, and the fashion show last week proved the country's diaper producers are intent on keeping the elderly clean and dry.

"Diapers are something that people don't want to look at," said Kiyoko Hamada of the Aging Lifestyle Research Center, a leading organizer of the show.

"But if you make them attractive, then people can learn about them more easily," she said.

Indeed, adult diapers are an increasingly common item in Japan, home to one of the world's longest average life spans. More than 20 percent of the population is over 65, and the country is forecast to have the globe's largest number of centenarians — 1 million — by 2050, according to the United Nations.

That means a booming market for adult diapers.

The Nikkei, Japan's leading business newspaper, conducted a survey last week that showed sales of adult diapers have more than doubled over the past decade, reaching an estimated ¥52.5 billion this year.

While that's good news for manufacturers, the fashion show last Thursday showed there's still a lot of uneasiness in Japan about this sometimes unseemly side of aging.

Before the models took over, players at the theater in central Tokyo acted out skits instructing viewers how to tell when elderly loved ones need diapers, how to convince them to put them on and how to properly use them.

In one skit, an elderly man shook his head in dismay after his wife pointed out that he wet the bed overnight again.

"Ah, maybe the loose-fitting diapers I use during the day aren't good to use at night," he concluded, leading to a discussion about well-padded nappies made especially for nighttime use.

Like many events in Japan, the show was heavy on detailed information, showing how certain types of diapers suit the bedridden, such as models that can be wrapped around the midsection. Pantslike slip-on diapers, on the other hand, are more suitable for active oldsters.

"A lot of people make mistakes when choosing diapers," said Hamada. "We can make it so people no longer feel uneasy about taking care of old people."

The fashion show itself was half camp, half instruction.

Speakers blared oldie hits such as "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood as models sashayed on the stage with diapers pulled on over black tights.

The crowd of several hundred people included diaper manufacturers, nursing home workers and doctors. 

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