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Junya Watanabe Brings Back the Lumber Sexual at Paris Fashion Week Menswear Show

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Junya Watanabe Brings Back the Lumber Sexual at Paris Fashion Week Menswear Show

I had washed up in Brooklyn, circa 2009.

Physically, I was in Paris, sitting at the Junya Watanabe fashion show. But spiritually? Oh boy, I was in Williamsburg in the Obama era.

It was the models in their husky Filson jackets, the buffalo checks, the tan cloth bags, the mondo hiking boots and the dark-wash cuffed jeans.

But most of all, it was the feathered-out mountain man beards. I could practically smell the beard oil. I might as well have been getting my haircut at an $80 barbershop on Driggs Avenue while listening to Arcade Fire and drinking an I.P.A. The lumber sexual, folks, is back.

At least in Mr. Watanabe’s hands. The designer, part of the Comme des Garçons extended universe, is a singular force. Thus far in Paris, he is the only designer plumbing our recent hipstery past for inspiration.

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Still, it was more than a little disorienting to see the ghosts of the aughts heritage movement — a wave that sent urban-bound men wild for good ol’ outdoorsy essentials like raw denim, Barbour coats and Filson cruiser jackets — revisiting us so soon. Were it 15 years ago, this collection would have received wall-to-wall coverage on “#menswear” blogs like A Continuous Lean. Fashion trends cycle around fast, but really? This fast?

Backstage, Mr. Watanabe dumped some cold Pacific Northwest water on this notion. Yes, he was familiar with the heritage wave that reared up in America two decades ago. There was a similar movement in Japan, he said through a translator.

But that was “not related to this” show.

Rather, Mr. Watanabe said, this collection was a meditation on how much he revered the four-pocket Filson Mackinaw Cruiser, a hip-length coat that was originally patented by the American outfitter in 1914.

He was, he said, “sharing the classic, good old workwear with Filson,” with whom he partnered on the collection.

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Sharing, yes. But also reimagining. Each model in the 41-look show wore some twisted conceptualization of a Mackinaw. They came reconstructed, deconstructed, lengthened to a parka, Frankensteined to a shearling, shaved into a blazer-type thing, given a pumpkin orange back panel and worn over another Mackinaw. All that was missing was a Mackinaw mutated into a jumpsuit.

This being a utilitarian design associated with lumberjacks and hunters, it was possible to wonder if Mr. Watanabe was making a grand statement about returning to nature in the face of artificial intelligence onslaughts and the tech oligarchs conquering the world? After all, the first heritage movement came as an answer to the online start-up boom, when men began to crave something analog, something they could feel with their hands, something they could treat like a tool.

Backstage, though, Mr. Watanabe was not in the mood to wheat paste grand ideas onto this collection. The Filson jacket “exists for a long time,” he said, squelching further questions about this temporal trend or that.

Still, near the conclusion of the show, the words “I see a change on the rise” came through on the soundtrack. To my eyes, it was not a change that Mr. Watanabe was offering, but a return, for on Friday morning, the heritage hipster could once again be spotted coming over the horizon.

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The Indian Jeweler Bhagat Opens a Boutique in London

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The Indian Jeweler Bhagat Opens a Boutique in London

Mr. Bhagat and his two brothers (who are no longer involved) established the business in 1991. He had been inspired to design during a trip to Rome in which, he said, he fell in love with the creations in the windows of Bulgari’s Via Condotti store. As a result, his early designs had a European aesthetic, albeit in yellow gold and colored gems, rather than the heavy gold settings and irregularly cut stones of traditional Indian jewelry.

At the brand’s beginning, Mr. Bhagat’s insistence on creating unique pieces of his own design was a brave one, said Jay, 35. In India’s jewelry-obsessed culture, jewelers commonly make pieces that are tailored to the client’s order. “In India,” Jay said, “everything is made to measure, everything is customizable.”

It was a few years later, when Mr. Bhagat started traveling around India, that he realized his jewelry needed to pay homage to the country’s rich heritage but also move its story forward. “I come from a generation that wanted to show India as a modern India,” he said.

Rahul Kadakia, the international head of jewelry for Christie’s, said Bhagat’s achievements have been impressive considering that India initially was not associated with contemporary high jewelry. “He was the first Indian jeweler to be on the cover of Christie’s catalog, and that was 20 years ago,” he said.

“He appreciates his Indian roots and also the value of Art Deco design and architecture,” Mr. Kadakia said, noting that was what initially set Mr. Bhagat’s work apart and is what continues to make it distinctive. “He combines the two with such fluidity. The stones are floating in their settings, and all you see is the shining light of precious stones.”

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For Mr. Bhagat and his sons, their ultimate aim is to heighten the wearer’s beauty, rather than overshadow it.

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Jennifer Lopez Performs Her Song 'All I Have' at Sundance Party

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Jennifer Lopez Performs Her Song 'All I Have' at Sundance Party

JENNIFER LOPEZ
IMPROMPTU PERFORMANCE AT SUNDANCE

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To ghost or not to ghost? We want to know about the dating experiences that haunt you

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To ghost or not to ghost? We want to know about the dating experiences that haunt you

We want to hear from you.

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NPR

We want to hear from you.

We want to hear from you.

NPR

It’s nearly here again – Valentine’s Day. The holiday of love. But the thing about love is that it doesn’t always work out the way you intend.

There are the awkward first dates, swiping endlessly through dating apps, conversations about keeping it casual versus exclusive, and of course – calling it quits.

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One popular (albeit controversial) way to end things with someone? Ghosting.

Added to Merriam Webster’s dictionary in February 2017 – to ghost is the “phenomenon of leaving a relationship of some kind by abruptly ending all contact with the other person, and especially electronic contact, like texts, emails, and chats.”

So, yeah. Poof! It’s has become a common occurrence in the world of dating. Whether you’ve been the “ghoster” or the “ghostee” — All Things Considered wants to hear about your ghosting experiences.

Fill out this form and an NPR producer may reach out to you. Your answers could be used on air or online.

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