KOZABURO SS19 Undermines the Ordinary
The LVMH Special Prize winner continues going against the grain.
Apparently shot in the designer’s garden, KOZABURO‘s Spring/Summer 2019 collection is arguably the emerging label’s strongest to date. The new collection is an austere refinement of KOZABURO’s progressive menswear inclinations, yielding off-kilter jeans, suits and outerwear informed by organic textiles and unmistakable craftsmanship.
Suiting informs much of the new collection, with relaxed cuts granting blazers and trousers an informal air. Linens and other woven textiles create gentle creases and visible texture in the high-rise slacks, trucker-like jackets and long mac coat, offset by slim, printed tees and shirts. Heavy-duty silver hardware — like buttons, zippers and lettering — grants belts, shirts and flared jeans a suitably punk-inflected edge; hand-worked tooling on the buttons complements the stunning craft displayed by raw, fringed pants and a woven intarsia pattern seen on a beige setup.
The Japanese heritage of Akasaka Kozaburo (the eponymous designer) manifests in the form of enormous geta sandals, Kanji characters and kimono-inspired layering pieces — these are comparatively conventional compared to boundary-pushing items like velvet shirts and trousers, as well as the collection’s striking bags, which are crafted from matching textiles and accented by bamboo handles.
For more forward-thinking Spring/Summer 2019 collections, take a look at ANEI’s debut collection.
