It’s been a year since we last saw Pillings during Tokyo Fashion Week. This afternoon, at a show that took place two days after the official Fall 2024 schedule ended in Tokyo, we gathered in the wooden lecture hall of the Jiyu Gakuen Girls’ School to see what designer Ryota Murakami has been working on.
We started with a trio of bright blue knits before moving on to cream cable-knit sweaters and cardigans, some embedded with little stone angels (a close-up showed the angels holding small knitting needles, to give the impression they were making the sweaters themselves). So far, so charming Pillings.
But what was this? Louchely fitted pants? White tuxedo shirts? Waxing leather jackets? Pillings is best known for his purposefully jagged knitwear, but this time Murakami showed he had many more tricks up his sleeve. The trousers had deep pockets that extended forward to the crotch (fancy than it sounds), oversized wool suits that were generously creased around the body, and the aforementioned shirts had collars that resembled paper pinwheels. Knitting remained the focus of the collection and the eye-catchers were the textured knitted dresses, which seemed to float on the body like gossamer clouds.
Behind Pillings’ upgrade is a new partnership with The Sazaby League, a Japanese retail company with significant resources and a network that includes Ron Herman Japan. In addition to financial support and office space, they are providing Murakami with PR and merchandising staff and plan to train knitters to help Murakami’s company realize its full potential. Best of all, they leave his vision for the brand untouched. “They didn’t tell me a single word what to design. I have been given free rein to do everything,” Murakami said. “In the past, I had to limit the number of samples I could make due to budget issues. This time I was able to make pieces that I didn’t want to make before.” How rare it is these days to see such faith in creativity from those calling the shots, and what a lesson for the wider industry.
Despite his newfound stability, Murakami’s core message for Pillings remains unchanged. “It’s for people who don’t fit in well with the rest of society, or who feel like they’re a bit of an outcast,” he says. His previous collection – which labeled sweater-eating moths as misunderstood rejects – conveyed vulnerability and withdrawal from society; this new one felt like an emancipation. “When I look back at that collection about moths, I feel like I created an escape for my mind,” Murakami said. “But this time I felt like I was taking a step forward, instead of running away.”
