Junya Watanabe Man A/W 2017
Mood board: Hip hop beats blared from a tower of speakers slap-bang in the middle of the catwalk. Clothes had a youthful, urban swagger. Models wore roomier denim jeans – an ongoing collaboration with Levi’s – as street and work-wear fused. Jackets were hybrids of classic men’s outerwear. A hunting jacket in tweed had padded leather arm patches like a faithful biker; a Lower East Side mood prevailed as Carhartt’s classic Duck Chore Blanket-Lined Coat paraded varsity sleeves. It was refreshed in its form and recognisable in its function.
Scene setting: The show was held on the Electric Bridge, which overlooks a section of the Boulevard Périphérique – a major ring road that curls around central Paris. As heavy morning traffic flew past the window and as the winter sun streamed in, the room was transported to a New York street somewhere between the Bowery and the East River. The collection felt distinctly American in its sensibility and attitude.
Best in show: The season marks Watanabe’s most involved collaboration with American outdoor giant The North Face. In 2013, the two released a capsule collection of classic trench coats and chore jackets manufactured using The North Face’s technical expertise. The pieces for A/W 2017 were more substantial. Sections from the brand’s classic duffel bag in water-resistant Base Camp material were engineered into a series of casual jackets.
Junya Watanabe Man A/W 2017
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London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.
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