Junya Watanabe takes Plight into AW22.
Experimental rock rules all for Junya Watanabe this season. Showcasing his AW22 collection as a lookbook from his HQ in Tokyo, the designer drew upon inspiration from Plight (The Spiraling of Winter Ghosts), the 1988 rock album by David Sylvian and Holger Czukay. In a deeply personal way, Watanabe created the collection by deconstructing, reshaping and investigating elements of motorcycle jackets, bombers and wool check jackets with a particularly punk twist.
The first look, a black leather pyramid cape, composed from patches of leather motorcycle jackets gave out a composition between structural haute couture and recycled, reimagined punk by showing a garment that takes the best of those two polar opposite fashion moments. Continuing the trend, the Japanese designer reimagined a bustle dress, and an off the shoulder neckline coat, again from leather patches of jackets with messy hair and deeply dark eye makeup protruding the rebellious sense of personal identity.
The dramatically opulent structures combined with the patchwork and blend of elements together further explored a lost sense of authenticity and craft that 80s fashion and culture embraced, bringing out a signature fascination behind Watanabe’s work that creates a couture-like feeling within ready-to-wear that feels opulent yet rebellious, making us want to explore and get to know the subject at hand.
