Japan Times fashion contributors select eight menswear and unisex collections to look out for during Tokyo fashion week DressedUndressed Takeshi Kitazawa /
Japan Times fashion contributors select eight menswear and unisex collections to look out for during Tokyo fashion week
Takeshi Kitazawa / Emiko Sato
北澤 武志 / 佐藤 絵美子
What began as a Tokyo unisex revolution on the catwalks from design duo Takeshi Kitazawa and Emiko Sato (see feature on previous page) has become a runway highlight for male streetwear aficionados. Packed with androgynous and feminine flourishes, this is the menswear uniform of the Tokyo creative class inspired by the forced bravado of certain streetwear. Taking aim this season at the pathos of trying to court attention with an “I’m Sexy”-themed collection, expect eroticism to be explored across playfully deconstructed menswear classics set against minimalist tailoring with the brand’s lauded pattern-cutting skills.
March 20,11:00
Shibuya Hikarie
Jotaro Saito
斉藤 上太郎
The last bastion of truly traditional Japanese fashion on the Tokyo fashion week schedule, Jotaro Saito’s runway shows are proof that the kimono is no national costume, but a living breathing part of the contemporary Japanese fashion lexicon. Presenting a mixed women’s and men’s catwalk, his swaggering male models rock the runway in unashamedly dandyish style, wearing designs that pass muster with conservative kimono critiques, as well as progressive designs in materials such as denim. We are promised a particularly edgy outing this season in a collection that is guaranteed to court those questioning the kimono’s place at fashion week.
March 21,16:00
Shibuya Hikarie
Hiroaki Sueyasu
末安 弘明
The stock of relative newcomer Kidill from Hiroaki Sueyasu is riding high after winning the 2017 Tokyo New Designer Fashion Grand Prix but isn’t quite ready to join the establishment just yet. Kidill’s 2018 autumn/winter collection will treat us to a love letter to U. K. punk band The Damned, featuring collaborations with esteemed subcultural photographer Sheila Rock, who documented the earliest years of punk and the scene that surrounded it. Reflecting on his own youth in the ’90s and the present Tokyo underground, the designer is on a recruitment drive for a new generation of rebellious souls.
