MEANSWHILE SS21 Delivers More Uncompromising Outdoor Essentials
Transforming outerwear, weatherproof layers and easygoing footwear.
MEANSWHILE may be an unlikely candidate for a runway show, considering its predilection for wearable adventure gear — as opposed to fanciful fashion week styling — but the label’s stylish twists on outdoors-influenced garments make for an appealing presentation that toes the line of approachability, if its Spring/Summer 2021 Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo show is anything to go off of. Familiar shapes and staples are warped and revamped, worn oversized and cropped, yielding a series of looks simultaneously wearable and exaggerated.
Models strode the runway in zipper-laden capes, kimono blazers, field parkas and shearling jackets — the latter leaning more into the ‘spring’ side of Spring/Summer — layered atop zip-off cargo pants and cropped slacks, accented by gloves, hats and a host of useful vests, belts and corded necklaces. Collaborative Keen and Danner footwear left the laces for MEANSWHILE’s corset-fastened rain jackets and adjustable neck gaiters. Elsewhere, waterproof shells transformed into bolero-length jackets and removable plackets dangled from bomber jackets, highlighting the hidden utility in each garment.
Elsewhere in Tokyo, Doublet showcased its own SS21 garments with a playfully macabre theme.
