Tokyo Fashion Week Fall 2016: Part 3

Tokyo fashion week has now come to a close for the season, but the last two days brought some of the more interesting and directional collections. From new takes on men's street wear and athletic wear with preppy influences, to modern minimalism and sci-fi inspired craftsmanship, there was something for all types of personal style. Read on for the trends you can expect to see on Tokyo's streets come fall.

PlasticTokyo

Since debuting his brand with the spring 2013 season, Keisuke Imazaki’s designs represent a very macro view of Tokyo’s street culture that have caught attention from buyers around the globe. This season’s interplay of excessive layering, rich materials, athletic street wear influences and a spotty use of bold colors to bring out a collection that doesn’t really fit in any category, was again genuinely intriguing.

Models walked down the x-shaped runway in shirts, jackets and trousers in exaggerated proportions made of contrasting textures, from denim and faux fur to shiny nylon. High attention was payed to accessories and detailing, such as unusual closures, pinafore-like extensions with pockets and fringes on pants, while the focus was often placed on the back of the pieces. A bold, rust red jacket was designed to be closed and worn back to front, and in combination with stone blue jogging pants and matching sneakers the innovative look absolutely worked. The wide use of denim was also defining for the collection, seen in frayed edged jackets and jeans beneath a pleated, draped skirt. New takes on urban basics and high-fashion elements came together for a progressive, sophisticated feel, turning out two ballooned trousers made of slashed strips and a traditional glen check coat with fluttering fabric strips for the show’s final.

Rugged, bohemian and well-crafted, PlasticTokyo is a positive addition to a fashion week which is in need of stylish sustenance with the potential to go international.

Johan Ku Gold Label

Leave it to Johan Ku to add a science-fiction inspired show with glow-in-the dark effects to the fashion week calendar. Horror movie “The Thing” and its key visuals served as the source of inspiration and were translated into arctic looks for fall

Ku showcased architectural shapes, featuring multi-material patchwork pieces with a three-dimensional effect. Silver zippers were used on a sculpturally cocooning coat dress, skirts and sweaters to make their various parts separable. While stunning and surreal textures dominated the collections—with standouts like a blazer in two shades of 3D fabric and a striped, sleeveless fur jacket—the color palette was kept sinister in shades of black, white and grey. Mint green used in both men’s and women’s knit sweaters started to glow when the lights turned out, and formed the only dabs of color, added a refreshing dynamism to the collection. In the final looks of the show giant alien legs came out of a second neck hole or back slashes, which created a wow effect but also distracted from the clothes themselves. Apart from that, the craftsmanship was beyond talent and so were the designs. And even if the performance was complex in nature, there was a magical sense of harmony to it all. 

Onitsuka Tiger x Andrea Pompilio

The association of Onitsuka Tiger, one of Japan’s most illustrious athletic companies, with preppy looks seemed to be contradictory, but thanks to Andrea Pompilio it became a reality and was truly in line with the collection’s theme “Unexpected.” The lineup represented a fusion of diverging components, with graphic motifs and novel details modifying traditional styles.

The Italian designer sent out a collection with a dominant prep-school vibe heavy on outerwear, with coats in camel-colored wool, tartan and flannel, as well as a smattering of glossy nylon. Women were outfitted in loose fitted jersey mini and maxi dresses with flowing skirts in black, midnight blue or glen check, all paired with black over-the-knee sneakers for a nonchalantly sexy and slightly provocative look. Exaggerated proportions and a play with length dominated the runway. Long, striped knit scarves in various color ways accented several of the looks.

Set to the sounds of a live performing drummer, Pompilio put on a high-energy show of street-ready looks, while unexpectedly breaking with the brand’s athletic DNA. Time will tell whether this unexpected collection will be a hit with the urban street athletes.

Ethosens

“It’s about how things exist and are renewed through the intersection of multiple components and different factors,” said Yui Hashimoto, designer of Ethosens, about his fall collection titled “Line of Intersection.” The Esmod graduate established his contemporary menswear label in 2007 and presented his creative designs for the first time during fashion week as one of the winners of the Tokyo Fashion Award.

Hashimoto took the chance to release a subdued collection of straight silhouettes and rigid cuts reminiscent of true Japanese restraint. Extra-long sleeves, scarfs and belts, waist-high wide legged pants, and oversized coats and tunic-like shirts in shades of gray, beige, blue and black were defining essentials. The designs were kept minimalistic and clean, where any redundant elements seemed to be abandoned. And so was the gender focus. With both male and female models presenting the latest Ethosens collection, Hashimoto distanced himself from any gender categorization. 

Whiz Limited

Over the past years Whiz Limited has gained mainstream popularity through its countless collaborations with industry heavyweights like Adidas, New Balance, Reebok and Stussy. In a “Story to Generations,” mastermind Hiroaki Shitano offered his own views on the past fashion ages for this year’s fall season. To showcase his latest creative outputs the designer left all known paths. Big city backstreet vibes, models grooving to the hip-hop beats and swag kids in hoodies—this runway show had it all. Without the spotlights and the spectators you wouldn’t even have realized you were part of a fashion event.   

The brand’s concept of “individual clothing” was reinforced by a lineup of apparently non-professional yet beautiful models of every age, origin and statue, presenting an extremely diversified collection. While the atmosphere was vibrant, the collection that functioned as a record of a journey through past decades’ (sub)cultures—from the Wild West through Elvis’s rockabilly 60s to the present—was rather basic and street casual. Yet the most memorable fashion moments of each era were not only taken up, but also rather skillfully translated into contemporary styles of the 21st century.

This one-of-a-kind show demonstrated once again that Whiz Limited isn’t influenced by seasonal trends and fads, instead mastering the art of providing timeless collections that are wearable for almost everyone.

KBF

Saturday evening, in the midst of the capital’s fashion epicenter—in Shibuya’s Miyashita Park— the design team of KBF presented their latest work. It was definitively one of the coolest settings of this season’s fashion hustle. Fitting the theme “Fog,” models made their way down the muddy outdoor catwalk while fog machines blurred the view.

The brand showcased a clean collection based around unicolored loose fit rompers and suspender and high-waist roomy pants. These were combined with comfortable sweaters and blouses in opulent fabrics such as velvet, fur and satin. Outfits were mainly arranged in stunning tonal color ways of burgundy, shades of violet, sandy hues and dabs of light ice blue next to neutrals. Sportive silhouettes and simplicity characterized the ensembles being well put together. However, the last look consisting of a camel turtle neck and voluminous fur patchwork skirt called to mind a cosy blanket and seemed out of place. 

The spectacle was closed by an electrifying finale with models wearing simple black wrap coats with silver slip-ons, demonstrating a homogenous overall picture of a harmonious collection.

Don’t miss our coverage from earlier in the week as well! Click here for recaps of the first two days, and click here for highlights from days three and four.