HIRO is an integral part of the Ura-Harajuku scene, the same scene that has brought us Juvenile Roll Call, Yeah Right!!, Christian Dada, Advantage Cycle, Children of the Discordance and many others who have graced the pages of Root magazine. They all started out with a simular re-purposed vintage aesthetic, but looking at all their respective A/W 2011-12 collections leaves me in no doubt that they have come of age and are ready to be appreciated in a wider context than that of the knotted backstreets of Harajuku. HIRO in particular has always had a great aesthetic that just needed a touch of polish before he could quite comfortably stand tall in any comparison – even internationally. But don’t get me wrong here, this is not a pedestrian collection (it is after all themed on terrorism), it is just that bit more concise and ready for a critical audience.
Continue reading for more edge than you can shake a stick at, stunning unisex styling and some seriously on-trend over-sizing.
The official lookbook:
Razor blade dress for the sartorially suicidal
More great examples of occultist detailing to rival Mikio Sakabe
Up close you can appreciate the complex structuring on the over-sized sleeves
Love this original print
A restrained showing for spikes (but I am glad they are still there)
So there you go, an evolved collection from HIRO as far as I am concerned. And there are still all the accessories and footwear that did not make it into the lookbook – but you can see those on HIRO’s blog here (and they definitely do not disappoint). As we have also come to expect from this group of designers (and friends) there are a whole host of planned collaborations to look forward to as well and I will do my best to keep you up to date on Tokyo Telephone as well as our shiny new Tumblr.
For stockists and further reading head on over to HIRO SHOP where you can tangentially feel part of this exciting avenue of Harajuku culture.
All that outerwear is really pretty
Why is it called Suicide Silence though (collection name?)… Isn’t that a band? haha
@Laura that is the name of the collection, I think it is meant to be an allusion to the theme of terrorism. But it would not surprise me if the designer was a fan of the band – I will have to ask him!
[...] close to Xanadu, is another place that should go on the list – it’s where we first saw Hiro’s fantastic work. For imported street wear (aside from Candy in Shibuya), it’s worth checking out Radd Lounge [...]
[...] shy away from challenging silhouettes and themes – as you would expect from a designer who themed a collection on Suicide and Terrorism. This time, like the aforementioned Diane Arbus, he presents images that challenge the notion [...]