Trends for normcore restraint in current Japanese menswear have taken the mainstream hostage, prompting a divisive splinter on the Tokyo fashion week runways.
At one end of the spectrum, we find a push toward an exaggeration of restraint exemplified by the likes of design partnership Tatsuya Kimura and Sanae Yoshida's Discovered, which swept the domestic street scene and picked out the MA-1 bomber jackets doing the rounds in Harajuku's backstreets, the Mandarin jackets doing well in the vintage shops of Shimokitazawa and the louche sweats selling hand over fist in Koenji, before channeling them through the duo's precise minimal lens and showing remarkable acumen in splicing trending items together.
They were joined at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo in this regard by Yuichi Yoshii and ex-Phenomenon designer Takeshi Osumi's label, Mr. Gentlemen, which also didn't take any risks with its portfolio of items but showed patterning proficiency in its collection.