Interview

Junya Watanabe: Eccentric Gentleman
 
It's interesting to look at the commonalities between the Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons Man collection and Comme des Garçons as designed by Rei Kawakubo. Both spice up spring with fabric patching—but while Kawakubo goes far out on a limb to construct pieces fit for a fashion rebel, Junya keeps the frame very classic and patches in a quietly subversive way for a natty gentleman who favors Mackintosh raincoats, brogues from Tricker's (Prince of Wales shoemaker) and silk print foulard scarves tucked into everything from formal shirts to T-shirts.
 
A devoted fan of traditional English and American menswear, Junya does blazers, in outerwear nylon instead of traditional cotton or linen. The colors are paint box bright and he might add bespoke style topstitching on the label and a corduroy collar. The result is an urban/sport hybrid with a cartoon flourish a bit like Tintin, the boy reporter character created by mid-century Belgian artist Hergé. The key piece this season is Watanabe's latest collaboration with Levi's for a photo print of a pair of jeans on cotton pants that are so realistic you have to touch them to know that the jeans styling, holes and rivets are just a print.