Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO Threw a '90s Grunge Rock Concert for SS24
Transporting us to a time before the Internet with oversizing overload, acid wash, cassette tapes, and dinosaur bags.
“What if there was a fashion community of fearless, enthusiastic young people who had no interest in trends of information in today’s society?” This is Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO‘s big question for Spring/Summer 2024, posing a runway collection to the world that takes us back to the late 1980s and ’90s.
The collection, titled “Lo-Fi Vision,” calls on the designer’s memories as a child. “It was a shock learning about the fall of the Berlin Wall on the television when I was around 10 years old. And as if resonating with this, there was nervousness, and a large amount of pressure within society which changed house music on the daily, pumping out rhythm and bass on speakers. But in those days, we were too busy having fun and not having a care in the world,” read the House’s press release, directly from the designer himself.
It’s a time that the designer calls a “lo-fi memory maze.” As if the ’90s were a blur that went too fast. Now, Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO is bringing it back in less of an homage, and more a total throwback eclipse that transports one to a time gone by.
Working with TALKING ABOUT THE ABSTRACTION (TATA), the designer has created a magazine clutch bag printed with copies of the iconic magazines STREET c. 1985 and FRUiTS c. 1997. Accompanying these are a cassette tape wallet and cassette player shoulder bag — going on to define the kind of epochal elements of the collection.
For example, ’90s acid wash is referenced heavily, as denim and military wear is treated to a special technique that dyes and sprays on the acid effects. It works comically oversized garments (more extravagant than ever before for the designer), delivering various blazers — often paired with shorts, per the seasonal trend à la Dries Van Noten, AMI, Amiri, and Paul Smith — and contrasted further with underlayers that served Nirvana’s teenage spirit, comprising loose gauge knitwear or just a bare chest.
But when wrapped up, the models were doused in an abundance of fabric. Proportions billowed and flowed with the arms of a hoodie elongated to unrealistic lengths, while the silhouette of a military vest was akin to borrowing your dad’s jacket as a kid. This play on size came again and again — distressed yellow knits under huge bomber jackets were found alongside a series of souvenir jackets, each coming either cropped, lengthened, scooped, or standard in their forms.
SS24 was a home run for the designer, who welcomed this larger-than-life shift with familiarities. Note: dinosaur bags, the duckling heels, all of its signature sneakers (also oversized and dyed), and fabric badges each making their presence very well known throughout.
But above all else, Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO knows how to put on a show. This season, a model stepped off the catwalk and onto the stage to join an already-performing band, delivering to the crowd a ’90s grunge rock song attitude. Indeed, it was quite the spectacle for the hotly-rising Paris Fashion Week staple.
Maison MIHARA YASUHIRO’s SS24 “Lo-Fi Vision” collection can be seen in the gallery above, while more Paris Fashion Week SS24 content can be found across Hypebeast.
Elsewhere, take a look at Junya Watanabe MAN’s collab-clad SS24 showcase.
