For some designers, their clothes become a billboard for their personal idiosyncrasies. And while that may be the case with Stella Ishii and 6397, you'd never guess. The line, born just two years ago from Ishii's ongoing hunt for perfect, authentically boyish jeans for her slight frame, is impeccably anonymous. Or so it seems at first glance. But look closer and 6397's pieces are distinguished by their details—the artful drape of a silk camisole, the inwardly rotated seams on one of the signature denim styles. The Pre-Spring lineup boasts a hyper-particular shade Ishii and her team refer to as "Mr. Lee Lilac," so named for the maintenance man whose worn polo shirt they borrowed to replicate the color.
The clothes here are more or less seasonless, in keeping with 6397's utilitarian leanings. Loose Bermuda shorts with a double pleat came in tropical wool. Raglan tees were rendered in featherweight cashmere. A highly covetable black tracksuit (nary a stripe or adornment in sight) marked new ground for the brand.
While the foundation denim range is now dwarfed by 6397's ready-to-wear offerings, it remains a force to be reckoned with in a heavily saturated market. This season Ishii is introducing two new denim styles. The Carpenter is a baggy, straight-leg gem (complete with hammer loop), and the Shorty is a cropped, wide-leg number in pebble-hued Japanese selvedge. There's also a deep indigo reprise of the cultishly adored mechanic suit—lately seen on Yoncé at the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals. That in and of itself is a testament to the label's ineffable cool: Bey looks every bit at home in it as Patti Smith, another fan, would.
A couple of graphic tees, the result of an ongoing and fruitful partnership with graphic designers Studio 191, were also included. "Loseth not thy cool," one read. Ishii's running no risk of that here.
