Takahiro Miyashita said he'd never heard of Liam Gallagher's label Pretty Green before, but he sure knows his Oasis. Much of this entrancingly back-in-the-day collection was an overt homage to (nearly) all things Madchester. Even Miyashita himself had taken on the mod-fringed, Lennon-bespectacled, sportswear-swathed '90s uniform of the Gallaghers—minus the belligerent swagger. Last season he was dressed like a sleek postapocalyptic cowboy (he could have been costume designed for The Stand), so it was quite some chord change.
Beneath the many instantly recognizable covers of late-20th-century Britpop classics—cable-knit turtlenecks, umbrella-fabric trackies (plus a onesie), dark denim, bucket hats, argyle socks (pulled disturbingly high), Vibram-soled creepers, a fantastic range of Fred Perry-esque half-zip polos, and even a vintage Union Jack flag to wrap Seiya (the model) in—this was more than mere nostalgia trip. Oasis-flavored late-mod was simply the thematic delivery system for this season's expression of the Soloist métier: microscopically observed menswear that bristles with Miyashita tweaks. Thus, that dark denim, some of it polyester-coated, came in a nine-cut portfolio of styles. The Stone Island-ish technical pieces bristled with headphone sockets, tattersall lining, and X-clip collar details, and they were fitted with far more fastidiousness than any self-respecting Vanity Fair troublemaker-frontman cover star would have thought it manly to engage in. A rocking mash-up of Miyashita focus and Oasis blur: mad for it.
