In Japan, there’s a color palette called yamato iro that’s used to describe the change of seasons. Foliage and spring blooms are defined by a series of some 400 shades. There’s fuchsia pink for the azalea flower, a light green for tea leaves, and a pale orange for Japanese citrus. Designer Hanako Maeda, a scholar of sorts of Japanese culture, studied the yamato iro for her new prefall collection. Pops of color gave way to modern silhouettes with touches of Japanese tradition, like an obi belt detail on a sharp blazer and a scarf dress that recalls the shape of a kimono.
Where there has traditionally been a lot of bells and whistles embellishing her designs, this season Maeda focused on shape, and clean, monochrome separates like crisp shirt dresses and wide-leg tailored trousers, as well as striped poplin tops. The only print was a painterly dot pattern that wove together some of Maeda’s favorite hues in the yamato iro palette. It was pretty, but the solid colors better underscored the designer’s pivot from Harajuku punk girls and pearl-wearing kids of the kawaii type, towards something a little more versatile.
Adeam has been embraced by Millie Bobby Brown and by Michelle Obama of late—that’s versatile. Almost as versatile as the bountiful yamato iro.
