Naoki Takizawa, who took over the design reigns at Issey Miyake in 1993, maintained his master's reputation for experimentation. But in a season that has so far opted for a cautious conservatism, Takizawa, too, clearly decided it was time to stick with tradition. He did, however, call his show "Idiosyncratic Dandyism," and the intriguing name was reflected on the runway.
The collection was built around menswear classics—the suit, the jacket, the trenchcoat—but the craft of the clothes was emphasized with a subtle artisanal flourish in the form of a contrast cross-stitching on jacket and trouser seams (cream stitches on a black suit, for example, or black stitches on a pair of cream trousers). The same stitching also ran all round the hem of a duffel coat and appeared as a broken pinstripe on a gray wool jacket. It gave each garment the effect of being slightly unfinished yet also worn in—very much in keeping with the erstwhile essence of Miyake's own designs. (The shoes also had a lived-in quality.) The dandy theme was evident in the outerwear: a long wool coat with a tuxedo lapel, the wool cape and cream blanket cloak that closed the show, even a hooded puffer jacket lined in fake fur dyed a deep burnt orange. The abiding impression left by this collection? Intelligently designed clothes for normal-size men rather than reedy fashion models.
