October 5, 2025 |
How boring fashion would be without Junya Watanabe. Serving as the first act in Saturday’s holy Japanese trinity – collections from Noir Kei Ninomiya and Comme des Garçons were shown in the afternoon – Watanabe delivered a masterclass in controlled wardrobe chaos. You might’ve thought there’s only one way to wear a beige trench coat, perhaps, or a pair of red high heels. Instead Watanabe finds magical ways to turn the familiar to the extraordinary. Models, carrying placards describing their looks, came in sculptural ensembles that signalled new ways to wear your wardrobe favourites (plus any spare household items you’ve got lying around). Two-trenches were welded together into a dress held in place by coat hangers which doubled as shoulder straps. A similar treatment was applied to two conjoined office shirts elongated below the knee, while heels were clustered to make decorative shoulder pads on a column dress.
Things got even more brilliantly bonkers when Watanabe began raiding his kitchen cupboards. Sheer black dresses were lodged with wine glasses and forks, giving each an abstract silhouette, and spoons were collaged together to decorate a silver T-shirt. Talk about pushing the needle forward, Watanabe gives you permission to turn anything into clothes.
Photography by Christina Fragkou.
