The photographs of Junya Watanabe’s men’s show don’t show off the clothes as well as they might, but bear with it—these are clothes with a high probability of getting into the wardrobes of cool guys everywhere. The first man out was lugging a giant army green duffel bag and wearing a checked jacket with a fragmentary yellow nylon yoke prominently bearing the words The North Face. The ubiquitously, internationally popular American utility brand was only at the top of the list of collaborators Watanabe worked with this season—there were Levi's, Carhartt, Vans, Barbour, Kangol, and Gloverall, too.
The quest for authenticity and the honoring of genuine, traditional forms of manufacturing has emerged as a strong thread through this season’s menswear shows. There's something in the male mentality which loves engaging with the knowledge of exactly how products are engineered—and a down-to-earth respect for things which are not too messed-about by fashion. Vetements might have made the whole of its last collection as collabs, Dries Van Noten may have decided to label parts of his Fall collection with the provenance of its manufacturers, but it’s been a regular part of Junya Watanabe’s modus operandi for menswear for years.
His whole thing this season was essentially a giant collage of collaborations absolutely certain to drive collectors crazy. The Levi’s, for one, with their perfect wide-leg slouch and their furry animal-print patch pockets. The waxed Barbour country jacket with leather motorcycle patches, for two. The North Face coat which had been re-created from a dismantled bag might top them all, though. The tote’s handles, placed on the inside-back, had been repurposed as straps, so that the coat could be slung off a shoulder when not in use, and its zippered pockets aligned to be useful for carrying laptops or whatever else.
This genius for remastering and repurposing existing products is especially cool because it never shouts too loudly about itself or falls into the trap of being too “fashion.’ It’s a compliment to Watanabe to say that the guys in these pictures look pretty much like men on the street, going about their ordinary business.
