Fed up with pretty, polite, ladylike retro? The young Japanese are. Junya Watanabe, like his compatriot Jun Takahashi of Undercover, is trying to beat a path forward by reverting to rock as a source of ideas. Heads bristling with massive spiked paper Mohawks, faces masked in cling film, his imaginary gang of psycho-punks stomped out in skinny cropped bondage pants, heavy skinhead boots, and skewed, cutaway, pulled-back versions of trenchcoats.
Watanabe said he'd been inspired by a Japanese band that delights in the name Mad Capture Maggots. The results involved a lot of patching together of chopped-up tour T-shirts, ripped crochet leggings, distressed leather, and camouflage prints. Still, whatever's rocking Watanabe's world at the moment, he'll never make a totally convincing convert to street toughness. For all the full-on energy of this show, it somehow couldn't help but echo his sweet, career-long romance with traily long dresses and Edwardian frock coats—even if, this season, they're pretending to slam doors and sulk.
