More so than an ordinary season, the spring 2021 collections have been colored by nostalgia. With circumstances reduced by the pandemic—travel curtailed, resources and workforces limited—fashion’s creatives have turned inward. Discussing his latest outing, Junya Watanabe’s press notes said, “It is a collection that reproduces the costumes worn by the stars in my memories. My memories are monochrome, and I created a photo session with four fictional stars.” He even named them: The Spangles.
The black and white images feature an assortment of apparently black or white looks, plus one or two more in silver. Nearly all of them are a-sparkle with sequins—not just the bubble-hemmed dresses that get the party started and the 1960s A-line gowns that close the look book, but also the trenchcoats that are integral to Watanabe’s oeuvre and the biker shorts that are a stylish nod to a silhouette that’s trending on the street.
Last season Watanabe paid punkish tribute to Debbie Harry. Though the Spangles may owe a debt to the Supremes—there’s no soundtrack to the video the brand provided, so it’s hard to say—these muses are more abstract. In its spotlighting of sequins, the collection feels of a piece with earlier Watanabe shows that had singular focal points of their own, like army fatigues and puffers (that this designer has not had a Moncler Genius collaboration feels like a missed opportunity).
His new clothes have an easy-to-wear aspect that many have keyed into in this COVID year. I’s a whole lot of caftan-like shapes and leggings, essentially and a stripped-down outing by house standards. The most complex shapes were the coats whose hems looped up, creating generous volumes. But in tricking everything out in spangles Watanabe turned the concept of #WFH-wear on its head. Comfort, he gets. Hibernation? Not so much. Sequins are associated with happier times. If and when the world opens up, Watanabe’s women will be ready.
