Junya Watanabe A/W 2019 Paris Fashion Week Women’s

Mood board: Takeshita Street in the Harajuku district of Junya Watanabe’s native Tokyo abounds in boutiques dedicated to Kawaii culture – the Japanese aesthetic that revels in cuteness and colour, Hello Kitty, Lolita fashion and the fetishisation of childhood. Yet, on Harajuku’s streets a more sinister subculture is rising: Yami Kawaii imbues the saccharine elements of Kawaii style with more sinister overtones, related to the grotesque. Watanabe dosen’t deal in clichés. The hybrid nature of his clothing takes classic shapes like a trenchcoat, an MA-1 bomber jacket, or a pretty floral smock and smartly splices and deconstructs them into something new. The Kawaii girls that walked on the catwalk in pairs for his A/W 2019 show, had an uneasy undertone, their hair in thick bunches, eyelashes long and clumpy, their lips offputtingly pink. The mashed up dresses/denim jackets/parkas/chunky knits they sported, changed shape according to the pose each model struck on the catwalk.
Best in show: A trenchcoat was spliced with a floral prairie dress, with trails of taffeta fabric. A white leather jacket was sewn into a delicate smock with pointillist blooms. Spliced, diced perfection.
Finishing touches: There was a toughness to Watanabe’s Kawaii gang, and models sported chunky cowboy boots embellished with rows upon rows of pointed studs. What else could you need for walking the streets of Harajuku?
Junya Watanabe A/W 2019.
Junya Watanabe A/W 2019.
Junya Watanabe A/W 2019.
Junya Watanabe A/W 2019.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Nothing takes its first step into high-end audio with the new over-ear wireless Headphone (1)
Created in partnership with KEF, the Nothing Headphone (1) is designed to shake up the sector and present over-ear audio in a wholly new way
-
In Copenhagen, Charlotte Taylor gave us a glimpse into the mess of real life
At 3 Days of Design, Charlotte Taylor staged ‘Home from Home’, a group exhibition in collaboration with Noura Residency, showcasing the chaos of the everyday, from unmade beds to breakfast leftovers
-
Stephen Burks and Malika Leiper transform everyday mats into sculptural seating in Senegal
Using woven plastic mats and zip ties, the New York designers explore local vernacular and creative adaptation at the Albers Foundation’s Thread residency
-
The collections you might have missed this S/S 2026 menswear season
Between the headliners in Paris, Milan and Florence, a few off-schedule displays are deserving of honourable mention – from Martine Rose’s sexually-charged portrait of Kensington Market to Sander Lak’s appointment-only namesake debut
-
‘They gave me carte blanche to do what I want’: Paul Kooiker photographs the students of Gerrit Rietveld Academie for Acne Studios
Heralding the launch of a new permanent gallery from fashion label Acne Studios, the celebrated Dutch photographer’s new body of work praises the bravery of ‘people who choose to go to an art school at a time like this’
-
‘I’m surprised that I got this far’: Rick Owens on his bombastic Paris retrospective, ‘Temple of Love’
The Dark Prince of Fashion sits down with Wallpaper* to discuss legacy, love, and growing old in Paris as a display at the Palais Galliera tells the story of his subversive career
-
The standout shows of Paris Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026: Hermès to Craig Green
Wallpaper* picks the very best of Paris Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026, from Véronique Nichanian’s portrait of summer in the city for Hermès to Craig Green’s return to the Paris runway
-
Paris Fashion Week Men’s S/S 2026: live updates from the Wallpaper* team
From 24-29 June, Paris Fashion Week Men’s arrives in the French capital. Follow along for a first look at the shows, presentations and other fashion happenings, as seen by the Wallpaper* editors
-
What the Wallpaper* editors are looking forward to at Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026
As Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2026 begins in Florence, the Wallpaper* style team select the moments they will be looking out for – from Jonathan Anderson’s anticipated Dior debut to outings from Wales Bonner, Kiko Kostadinov and Prada
-
Donna Trope celebrates the power of the Polaroid in Paris
‘Polaroids used to be my rejects, and now they are my holy grail,’ says the beauty photographer, as she shows rarely seen images in a Paris exhibition
-
Horace’s new men’s scent is the linen shirt of the fragrance closet
Vetiver Primavera, the new fragrance from men’s grooming brand Horace, is casual but elegant, says Wallpaper’s Mary Cleary – a citrussy scent for summer