Junya Watanabe A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Men’s

Mood board: Junya Watanabe could teach our testy politicians a thing or two about the essence of collaboration. Since the early 1990s, he has worked in partnership with heritage brands and specialists in their fields to create hybrid garments. Collaboration – which has become a hackneyed ploy by so many brands for seasonal attention – becomes a meaningful project between experts. His partners always bring a certain tradition and knowledge to his modish approach to men’s everyday clothes.
Best in show: The A/W 2020 collection entitled ‘Classico’ coordinated Italian archetypes with streetwear sprezzatura and opened to the smoky trumpet of ‘Arlecchinata’ by Nini Rosso. The clothes paid homage to Italian motor sports, from Watanabe’s signature patchwork denims to the line of racing car leathers applied to jeans or cut with traditional suiting fabrics. The back of a leather biker was neatly spliced into a hunting jacket; nylon bombers were cut into windowpane check blazers. This was a retro uniform for grown-ups.
Team work: Alliances this season were multiple: on show were tapered and wide-leg jeans with Levi’s. New for the season was outerwear with French maritime manufacturer Guy Cotton and tailoring with Caruso. Icons of Italian motoring had logos applied across the collection – break manufacturer Brembo featured on a puffa cut into Crombie coat. Producer of cycling parts Campagnolo and motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi helped channel the machismo meets retro/classic workwear mood.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
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.
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to know
Designing the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spot
Heritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
Discover midcentury treasures in Marylebone with Álvaro by Appointment
London is full of sequestered design havens, and Wallpaper* knows them all. Allow us to point you in the direction of Álvaro González’s shop window on Nottingham Place, home to a bonanza of beautiful 20th-century antiques
-
Palace unites with Rapha to celebrate inaugural Tour de France Femmes
Marking the first time women will compete in the historic cycling race since the late 1980s, this new collaboration sees Palace Skateboards and Rapha create uniforms for both on and off the bike – including an ‘outlandish’ pair of Crocs
-
Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022: Chanel to Miu Miu
In this extended report, Wallpaper* updates you live from Paris Fashion Week A/W 2022 shows, with rolling coverage as runway events unfold
-
Scene-stealing runway sets from S/S 2022 womenswear shows
From giant roulette wheels to Olympic diving boards and multi-city synchronized extravaganzas – our pick of the best fashion show sets from S/S 2022 womenswear
-
Louis Vuitton A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
-
Chanel A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s
-
Y/Project A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
-
Sacai A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women's
-
Alexander McQueen A/W 2020 Paris Fashion Week Women’s