Trends for normcore restraint in current Japanese menswear have taken the mainstream hostage, prompting a divisive splinter on the Tokyo fashion week runways.
At one end of the spectrum, we find a push toward an exaggeration of restraint exemplified by the likes of design partnership Tatsuya Kimura and Sanae Yoshida¡¯s Discovered, which swept the domestic street scene and picked out the MA-1 bomber jackets doing the rounds in Harajuku¡¯s backstreets, the Mandarin jackets doing well in the vintage shops of Shimokitazawa and the louche sweats selling hand over fist in Koenji, before channeling them through the duo¡¯s precise minimal lens and showing remarkable acumen in splicing trending items together.
They were joined at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo in this regard by Yuichi Yoshii and ex-Phenomenon designer Takeshi Osumi¡¯s label, Mr. Gentlemen, which also didn¡¯t take any risks with its portfolio of items but showed patterning proficiency in its collection.
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