Naohiro Fujisaki’s spring 2024 show was a long time coming. After his first runway for fall 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic, the 37-year-old has spent the last few years honing and building the brand up to this point.
Fortunately for Fujisaki, there were no false starts tonight. The show took place on the wide roof of the Palace Side Building in Tokyo, with the setting sun and the distant silhouette of Mount Fuji on one side and a forest of glittering skyscrapers on the other. That everything unfolded precisely as the sky began to darken seemed like design, because the collection was about traversing space: moving between the built city and the natural world; the heat of summer and the cold of winter; light and darkness.
Fujisaki, like many designers in Tokyo, operates in the realm of understated technical wear. Nylon wraparound skirts, sail-covered sleeves and gaiters, and satisfyingly bulky bombers with numerous pockets were among the more industrial-feeling side of the collection, complemented by architectural prints he’d collaborated on with Finnish photographer Ola Kolehmainen. These were balanced with softer details. Particularly brilliant were the fisherman’s vests, not made of nylon or polyester, but of soft knitted cotton; they felt grandpa-like at best.
Then came soft-looking blanket coats that were good enough to sleep in, but also a stylish variant kuchofukujackets with electric fans in the side that you will often see worn in Japan to keep workmen cool in the summer. There were also reflective silver patches that looked like blobs of mercury stuck to the backs of jackets (cool looking, but also useful for being seen in the dark), and a Pleats Please-esque hoodie setup that wouldn’t look out of place on the couch or in the subway.
“Clothes can be broadly divided into two sides: costume-like aspects and tools for daily necessities,” Fujisaki explained after the show. “I got into the fashion industry because I originally loved the costume side, but I don’t think the industry is in a good place right now, so I’m trying to update it in my own way by presenting clothing as a tool instead of just costumes.”
With so much talk in fashion about post-streetwear, this WFH wardrobe, the uncomplicated idea of useful clothing that looks good and can adapt to a myriad of scenarios is a balm. That may be why Fujisaki’s show tonight seemed a little futuristic. Not in the depressing, apocalyptic way we’ve all become accustomed to when we contemplate the future, but in the way it presented something that looks forward with positivity and purpose. There is still hope.
