I am always surprised that ACV of H>Fractal fame doesn’t hold a show or exhibition to coincide with Tokyo Fashion Week, not that I think they should be involved directly, but an anti / guerrilla show would be a perfect chance for them to show off their very visible following to the rest of the Japanese fashion scene. Having said that, that may well compromise their beyond cool cult street fashion status and the Witch House / Dub-Step nights that are the usual gathering points for the the fans when they aren’t lurking in the backstreets of Harajuku. But in the interest of promoting the real face of Japanese fashion here on Tokyo Telephone, we will always cover this brand each season, even if they are too damn cool to promote themselves.
As ever we find ACV sitting right in the middle of high and street level fashion with a collection that has fun referencing some of the finest from Paris in both prints and structure, and by equal turns mixing that with streetwear essentials like baseball caps, studded bracelets and leopard print. So what makes them special then? Well, the simple fact that they do it best, at a level anyone can buy into – fashion students buy the hi-definition printed t-shirts, and at the higher price point you get beautifully futuristic jackets and coats that feel like Gareth Pugh built for the street. Continuing that reference is a nice amount of sky blue, mesh and geometrics in the details that is juxtaposed against minimalist bombers, footwear and leather trousers. It strikes me that ACV’s filtering point for these key trends that we are now seeing diffuse to the street level, is knowing how to mix in the high-fashion structured simplicity with the Tokyo street fashion desire to pack in as much detail and cultural references as possible into each item to keep the overall look fun.
If you are puzzled how that works in practice, well let ACV show you how:
I love the way they take sleek layering with multiple textures and make it seem so effortless and casual.
That is not to say that the look lacks the drama, but it is first and foremost streetwear – the fact that it does so with plenty of high-fashion touches is just an added bonus.
Love the collars on the above.
As you can probably gather, most of the items are completely unisex.
The head to toe geometric look is becoming increasingly common in Harajuku, but you might like to break it up the further you get from the heart of the city.
My picks from the collection are the minimalist creepers, which I always hoped would diffuse to the street level, and those baggy leather shorts for layering.
Needless to say the collection is backed up by the constant stream of graphic t-shirts that ACV release every month or so, but this is the core silhouette that is going to define their A/W and subsequently the streets of Tokyo later this year.
To see more and shop you will want to go here or the flagship in La Foret Harajuku, and if you have come here searching for a certain videogame series, then I can only apologise.
