In March 2019, YOHEI OHNO presented its Autumn/Winter 2019 collection in a good old-fashioned atmosphere at “creme de la creme.studio” on the 8th floor of Harajuku New Royal Building, Tokyo.
What welcome us before the entrance was a palm-sized jacket with rounded sleeves and shoulders that have been a regular feature for the last few seasons. For example, a collarless tweed jacket may remind you of CHANEL. YOHEI OHNO takes the approach to make the brand memorable with iconic silhouette, not by name, to establish it as a long-standing fashion brand.
This season’s collection features friendly colors and soft fabrics, suggesting a “new formal style for women.” Employing summer wool from the Bishu region with thirty years of tradition, the designer combined the classic fabric and simple colors and patterns with the brand’s unique lines and shape around the waist to create modern items, which is only possible by the brand’s continued exploration of unique silhouette. This also reveals YOHEI OHNO’s intention to positively share the fine wool from Japan as a finalist of the International Woolmark Prize 2018/19. Military tops and biker trousers feature rugged detail in contrast with soft sheer materials, which is the brand’s iconic expression of making manly items with a feminine touch.
What comes as a unique surprise is the lookbook. Some photos feature models who represent the image of the new collection. Other photos artistically show individual items, or tell a story of an item in a woman’s everyday life. While they are from the same collection, each item has a different atmosphere, providing viewers with a fresh experience of looking at items from diverse angles instead of just following an image given by the designer. Some are presented artistically, and others as a part of daily living. The designer Ohno’s eye for architecture and industrial products seems to enable this breadth of expression. It is likely to create a stir in the commonly adopted way of making lookbooks.
Brand: YOHEI OHNO
