Adeam’s Hanako Maeda grew up in between New York City and Japan. She spent many of her childhood summers in the resorts of Kawaguchiko, one of the five lakes located at the base of Mount Fuji, where her preferred activity was tennis. For pre-fall, she. ruminated on her memories of the preppy tennis outfits that were a sartorial common denominator between New York and her summers in Japan.
Rather than rehash country club outfits, Maeda stayed true to her label’s hybrid sensibility and merged this stylistic archetype with the fashion of contemporary Japan. “Something that is very interesting now in Japan is that the younger generation is really into American vintage, but in a very Japanese way,” she said. “It’s very oversized, deconstructed, and with a lot of layering.”
Maeda’s reimaginings of oxford stripe shirtings took the form of white cotton layered with sheer striped fabric and cut into loose and pleated summer dresses. She could’ve expanded on this idea. Cut & sew knitwear looked particularly sharp. An elongated cardigan/pleated dress combo was her most successful hybrid, but closely following it were a blush double-collar oxford stripe off-the-shoulder blouse, and a poplin button-down/knit polo mashup. To add visual interest, Maeda included a vibrant jacquarded windowpane plaid, though this would have sat better with the rest of the lineup had the green base been closer to the grass green hue used elsewhere.
Adeam returned to New York Fashion Week for spring, and celebrated 10 years in business with a collaboration with model Carolyn Murphy. Maeda’s next step, she says, is to expand her retail presence stateside, in Japan, and the rest of Asia. “It would be fun to expand our reach, going global is my next goal,” she shared.
