Japanese designer Junya Watanabe has influenced today’s streetwear on such a high scale, not even twenty years after launching his own label, his older collections are dealt on fashion archive platforms like crazy – reason enough to take a quick look at the man and his work behind the hype.
Watanabe, born in the prefecture of Fukushima in 1961, studied and graduated at Bunka Fashion College in Tokio and became Rei Kawakubo‘s protégé right away. Only three years later, in 1987, his ongoing work for Comme Des Garçons started. Over the years he collaborated with many established fashion brands of diverse segments, which gave him the freedom to work off his whole design spectrum. Lacoste, Levi’s, Nike, New Balance, Fred Perry, Converse, Vans, Moncler, Brooks Brothers and Dickies are just a few names to mention.
From overprinted denim over patchwork to basic wardrobe essentials – Watanabe stands for the aesthetic of “deconstruct & reconstruct” which influenced many after him. This might also be the reason why his pieces never went out of style, but became collected items all over the world.
Planned loose threads, perfect imperfections, technical details, a worn out look on high class materials meet clean wardrobe essentials and organic materials.
A$AP Rocky, Kanye West, French Montana – the list of today’s relevant celebrities wearing Watanabe is long and so his fashion is brought to the next generation of fashion lovers and Hypebeasts and continues inspiring people to do their very own custom designs.
