June 14, 2018 |
Hiroshi Fujiwara didn’t really know too much about Moncler before he started working with them. The Italian outwear powerhouse is the new and latest collaborative partner to work with Fujiwara. More of this further down.
This Japanese designer is at the helm of the Tokyo ideas collective Fragment. It and he have become a source of disruption and ideas for brands who work collaboratively Fujiwara’s Fragment to push their design concept further still.
Streetwear labels like Stüssy and Supreme and artists like Takashi Murakami have all worked closely with Fujiwara in the past. He’s even designed guitars for Eric Clapton and cups for Starbucks. His design, art direction and edge bring cool to everything he touches in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
For Moncler, then, a series of pieces stamped with the ‘Fragment’ branding and ethos, some of which are on Matchesfashion.com now with more to hit “the heavier pieces,” says Fujiwara in December “for the very cold weather”.
“This is the first season [with Moncler], so I kinda wanted to show who I am and what Fragment is, so I put influence [into the collection] from my archive.” He says.
The designer is in Florence this week to throw a party with Matches to launch this first and impressive hit. “So this is kind of the introduction.” He adds. Will we know it’s Fragment? “I think you can see that this is Fragment, you know, Hiroshi’s things.”
To some of the engineering of the collection, which teams Fujiwara’s design mind with Moncler’s Milan based studios and labs. He’s been travelling to Milan every week from Japan since working there. “I made a simple raincoat, but they have good techniques at Moncler with all the down that goes inside. That is my favourite piece from this collection (you’ll have to wait until Moncler release the highly anticipated images for this as things tend to get, well, ripped off.) “It looks kinda normal, the coat,” he adds “but if you wear it – it’s really good down – it covers the whole body. It’s light, too, and has elastic seams inside, so if you wear it, you kind of feel, like, the down jacket is holding you in. You should try it!” Erm. That’s a yes then.
The Dior Homme designer Kim Jones is a huge fan and friend of Hiroshi and has worked with him but also owns many of Fujiwara’s designs. Jones told us once that Fujiwara lived and worked in London, including a stint at Vivienne Westwood. He loves the place. And when we told the silversmith and designer, Andrew Bunney, we were meeting Fujiwara he nearly fell off his chair, such is the respect for the man in designer circles. “Ask him about London,” said Bunney before our interview.
Laughs Fujiwara “There is a lot of London in this collection, actually. There are four mohair jumpers in there,” like London punks? “Yes, that’s definitely the most London thing. It’s not a regular mohair jumper with a Moncler logo though – you’ll see!”
The whole collaboration is the first drop of many more under Moncler’s ‘Genius House’ umbrella of eight designer creating eights collections. It’s an ongoing project by Moncler to push things ever further in fashion and outerwear design.
But there’s womenswear? “Not really, no. I’ve never really done women’s, but now everything is kind of unisex. I like women wearing men’s clothes anyway.” Right, ladies, now it’s your turn!
