Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The great outsider and collaborator

One of my current personal favourite designers is Watanabe. he can be considered a fashion outsider because he is something of an enigma and I think this is part of the attraction. I must admit that I've not really taken too much notice of him previously but now I am looking through his past creations and really enjoying what I'm seeing! Unfortunately menswear design is not really known for innovation but designers like Watanabe and (more recently)Throup are helping address this. I love how Watanabe deconstructs classics, for example taking apart white shirts or trench coats and exaggerating a facet or two, and then putting them back together for an entirely new and accomplished result. In an arena not exactly known for embracing groundbreaking innovation, Watanabe’s menswear has received particular acclaim. Although I like his s/s 2008 collection it is far too cold to be thinking about that season so I will concetrate on a/w 2007 and his bikerwear collection! As I've come to understand the 'Watanabe way' is to leave no sartorial cliché un-deconstructed, so he broke down the biker jacket into its component parts—collar, belt, zips, etc.—and put them back together in unexpected ways, reminiscent of The Clash.

This image is courtesy of men.style - Daft Punk on the catwalk? I'm in love with leather biker jackets right now and this show was one of the main reasons for this love to blossom.

Not content on concentrating merely on the leather biker jacket he looked at cloth versions and added numerous zips...as I've mentioned previously I adore zips.
Other than the search for the perfect biker jacket which is a tremendously difficult task because it is a classic and should be regarded as a staple for any man's wardbrobe I am looking for the right boots. I'm undecided between keeping to the biker theme or purchasing something a little more formal. I will keep you updated as to how my search goes and leave you with one more example of Watanabe's work...

Just look how Clash like this is!

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