It’s a joy to shop Junya Watanabe. At the shows – planning looks – and in stores too. And going shopping seemed to be the inspiration behind Watanabe’s latest line-out. Models pulled canvas shopping bags over their shoulders and wore pinstripe wool jackets; these cane fused with another garment on top. A navy blue coach jacket was laid over the top half of a suit; the body of a checked suit jacket laid over a camel raincoat. And the back panel of a Levi’s denim jacket stitched to the jacket-back of another.
Was the inspiration behind these new “garment-fusions”, how fashion people now dress? And the gesture of a coach jacket pulled over the top half of a suit inspired the above, now, single, fused garment? It was gestural and knowing: if Junya is guilty of anything, it is understanding what fashion-conscious men want to wear (and how they wear it). This meant wide camel chinos and even wider dark denim jeans. Workwear jackets – all manner – but the white one with the St John’s restaurants logo printed on the chest was best. Another logo – the “Amsterdam Tulip Museum” – came stitched to the breast pocket of a coat. There were logos on the shoppers too – one had colourful scribbles over it.
Had Junya been to everyone’s secretly favourite part of their local museum – the museum shop? These places are full of similar standard bags and tons of coloured pens! It’s a uniform that will chime with his fans: his museum-visiting best-dressed fans.
