If the decadence and fun of our recent report on the Wut Berlin fashion show has been a bit much for you, then don’t worry, today is all about austerity, sobriety and credible fashion. After all, it has always been our aim to present as balanced an account as possible of what Japanese fashion is actually like and the reality is that I saw someone wearing Nude: Masahiko Maruyama at the Dark Renaissance show at the weekend, so I thought it was only fitting to collide those two worlds on this site. For those who don’t know Nude: Masahiko Maruyama is a dark artisanal brand in the same vein as The Viridi-anne, with elements of Julius, Aptform and our recent discovery Liberum Arbitrium, but with an additional unique focus on producing unisex work and some brilliant touches that I have yet to see anywhere else.
This season Nude: MM’s muse has been delving into heavy layering, but done as concisely as possible. The silhouette is very much on the slim side, but feels solid as if packed tight with warm thick layers that culminates in a strong, bold coordinate that strikes me as succinct and complete. Details are relatively sparse on the ground, but where present they are, as I said before, distinct to this brand with the designer going so far as to create all his metal hardware in-house. A slight styling curveball is thrown into the mix through a tailored skit panel that sits firmly at the front of the body in some looks, but by and large this is a stoically simple outing for those who appreciate it, and if you don’t, then I am sure you will one day.
Masahiko Maruyama has tried to steer away from leather in this collection, choosing instead to focus on fabric development where there is still so much to experiment with. Personally I love the lines in the above, and how the parallel and straight lines are broken up subtly around the waist pockets by the natural weight of the leather.
Here is one of the developed textiles for the collection, itself a continuation of the contrast between lines and very slight curves that runs deep throughout the collection.
We are seeing a lot of designers of this particular school throwing in shiny artificial fabrics to their usual earthy mix. I still have time to get used to it in time for winter, so maybe I too will be a convert by then.
But there are still a wealth of classic outers for any man to happily sweep through the streets of Tokyo in.
It is clear to see that there is considerably less focus on heavy draping from many designers this coming A/W, and what with that having crept right through Japanese menswear down to the cheapest possible retailers, perhaps those days are over.
This fur might seem a difficult layer, but wait till you see it with a tailored jacket:
Special mention must go to these boots produced in conjunction with Hiroshi Kiba – I try not to treat these lookbooks like a shopping list, but these are an absolute winner as far as I am concerned.
Nude: MM are in process of updating their website where I understand you will be able to see the same collection styled for women very soon indeed, so check out their site here and stand by for their S/S 2013 collection which will be previewed surprisingly soon at Paris Fashion Week.
Interesting collection. Your comment here really stood out to me:
“It is clear to see that there is considerably less focus on heavy draping from many designers this coming A/W, and what with that having crept right through Japanese menswear down to the cheapest possible retailers, perhaps those days are over.”
I flirted with this kind of heavy draping very briefly before deciding it wasn’t for me, and I think it’s definitely a trend that has been killed by oversaturation. Is there a store in 109-2 that wasn’t selling drapey t-shirts?
@ brad-t
I think the possibilities with drapes were explored pretty quickly and it just started feeling tired. I still love a drape as part of an outfit, but the idea of drapes as an outfit doesn’t really go anywhere.
My top tip is that if you have an exaggerated cowl necks sitting unworn in your wardrobe, just fold the neck inside the top when you are wearing it and it will give you a really cool structured shoulder and neckline thanks to the bunched fabric – that is what I have been doing at any rate.