Nadir Tejani has long been overdue an introduction on Tokyo Telephone, and now that he is collaborating with one of our favorite shopping destinations – Primitive, that time has finally come. Last time we saw Primitive they had taken over the 3rd floor of Fake Tokyo in Shibuya with their limited shop Primitive Tokyo and they did mention that they were going to be working on a capsule collection, but I had expected a couple of t-shirts and the like, instead we find one of the most exciting collections to come on to my radar in the last couple of months.
Primitive’s distinctive geometric symbol is deconstructed to form 10 pattern segments which are reworked over the 10 piece capsule collection with items then constructed out 1 – 10 of those elements – so you have the most complicated coat made of all 10 and shirts made of 8 and so on. To go with Primitive’s deliberately conceptual approach to fashion, Nadir Tejani has brought with him a dose of austerity and severity that delivers clean, minimalist design that borders on the ceremonial. Along with the headdresses that are also designed by Primitive, I can’t help but see a bit of the Rick Owens in this new masculine silhouette, but that is never a bad thing as far as I am concerned.
I love these gorgeous hats / head dresses and I am hoping I can pull off without anyone making the obvious nun reference.
Other winners for me include this ultra simple backpack,
and this pocketed apron that screams stoic masculinity.
There are some pieces that look like they could come from Nadir Tejani’s mainline, like the traditional Japanese dobuku sugata inspired coat above, but by and large you can feel a satisfying amount of Primitive’s input running deep throughout the collection.
With that established I thought this would be a good opportunity to look at Nadir Tejani’s solo work, especially as he has taken traditional Japanese inspirations to an icy futurist degree that echoes our own belief that these shapes are an inherent part of Japanese masculinity, and that they should have a much more prominent place in menswear design.
The silhouette is resolutely traditionally Japanese, but the technical fabrics including EtaProof, ensure the fabrics are fit for modern life, not to mention that in construction Nadir Tejani has set himself the target of constucting everything from rectangles to attempt to avoid and design cliches.
Belts are built into many items to allow for individual styling and to allow pieces to be worn open in the warm and tightly closed in winter.
The textures are broken up with Merino wool and Towel Terry.
In the lookbook pictures below you can really drink in the fantastic kimono and hakama shapes and I strongly advise that you do just that.
You can see more from Nadir Tejani here and the majority of the work and collaboration with Primitive is available through Primitive here (and yes they do ship internationally).
