Where do the U.K. and Japan meet? “In a pleat,” rhymed Dean and Dan Caten, deadpan. “The samurai had these big skirts, with these big volumes; and then there’s the kilt and its pleated volume, and we’re matching the two worlds.” To the epic chorals of Akira, the models emerged through a bamboo forest in hybrid clothes that grafted bomber sleeves onto tailored torsos onto half-kilt-pleated skirts. To intensify the Japanese flavor, there were shortened judo jackets and pants under an embroidered topcoat. Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” played as panels of greenish tartan, a bit Black Watch, dropped into the mix. There were bombers and a suspender-crossed denim trucker patched with schlocky, poppy Asian graphics.
Cranes and kabuki and snowflakes and samurai and porny manga pinups in a print collage were all chucked cheerily into the mix. Oversize outerwear pieces in either printed satin, plain navy gabardine bonded with leather, or stiff metallics came teamed with mighty piper boots to deliver near-dystopic-future urban armor done for fun. The zippy bondage pants, those half-kilts and the tartan added a base layer of punk. Churned through the Dsquared2 NutriBullet, this was a blend that came out frothy and went down fine.
