It’s hard not to be enveloped by Tokyo’s inherent stylishness when you wander around the city’s concrete paved streets. Here young salary men in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district have made an art of wearing perfectly cut 2 button grey suits with an attention to detail that makes an aerospace engineer’s thesis into new carbon fibre materials look decidedly pedestrian.
We’ve all heard of labels such as United Arrows, Beams, Ships & Tomorrowland – very much the establishment of Japanese menswear and greats such as Comme des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto. However Transcript also commends labels such as Visvim, Soph, Hare and Lad Musician for producing garments that not only are embedded with a uniquely Japanese aesthetic, but also are inherently creative in how they treat fabric, silhouette and detailing.
As I left hotel Claska, on my way to Shibuya before taking a local train to Daikanyama, I suddenly became attuned to how Japanese men view fashion – clothing is not something that you wear just on a daily basis, but rather it is an integral part of life. Transcript argues that young men across the west could learn a lot from how Japanese men pair colour with texture, pattern with cut creating a thoroughly curated form of personal expression. If you have seen the staff and customers at A.P.C’s flagship homme store in Daikanyama you’ll know exactly what I mean.
