Base Mark’s number one signature is a labyrinthine approach to layering. It’s not the classic button-down-under-a-sweater-vest-under-a-blazer variety, but instead an almost frenzied approach in which the many components of an outfit are all tangled together.
The spring 2023 collection was inspired by the way that wide-angle lenses distort the subject of a given photograph. Designer Shiho Kaneki applied these variations literally to clothing: collars and pants are warped and stretched. This proportion play allows for scarves or extra shirts to poke through playfully.
Distressed clothing was key as well. Some of the pants were mostly cut away, leaving just the outline of the garment and allowing other elements of the outfit to peek through. A more wearable iteration of this were a pair of khaki trousers with an extra-wide waist and slashes down the leg.
Each outfit is a kind of knot the wearer gets to twist up and the viewer gets to unwind. One of the final outfits seemed to cheekily acknowledge this idea: the top was a tangle of Base Mark branded ribbon, worn with cobalt blue, slashed arm warmers.
