KAPITAL KOUNTRY Celebrates Ainu Culture With CHIP SANKE Lookbook
Rich patchwork & distressed indigo in the name of tradition.
Japanese denim masters KAPITAL have unveiled a new lookbook for their patchwork-focused KOUNTRY sublabel, shot by close friend Eric Kvatek. Debuting as part of “KOUNTRY Month,” the lookbook is set in the small city of Nibutani, where the museum of Ainu (indigenous people) Culture is located. “CHIP SANKE,” the name of the lookbook, references an Ainu ceremony held in August wherein villagers place the souls of the departed in handmade boats and send them out to sea.
Plentiful patched goods appear in the lookbook, including washed indigo jeans and a dress, both upgraded with contrasting fabric panels. Although a zippered fleece adds a hint of sportswear to the proceedings, the majority of the items remain workwear-centric, like denim fishing vests, jacquard-print overshirts, cropped sarrouel pants, noragi-inspired shirts and elegantly embroidered trucker jackets. A selection of noragi layers and trucker jackets sport patterns sourced directly from traditional Ainu craft, driving home the blend of heritage with current-day styling.
Look for the new items to hit KAPITAL’s web store shortly and check out Ainu-inspired gear on the KOUNTRY Month page.
Most recently, the Japanese label dropped 60/40 iterations of its covetable Kamakura anorak.
