Move Over Chanel Jacket, The Anrealage Jacket Has Arrived
Anrealage Homme AW 24
June 30, 2024
By Ali Khan | Co-Founder
Photo (above): Anrealage debuts anrealage homme at Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo AW24. Ali Khan
One of the three guest designers invited to show during Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo, Fall/Winter 2024 edition, was the venerable Japanese fashion house Anrealage.
The practice of inviting big names that usually show in Europe to come back and take part in the national fashion week has long been core to the Japan Fashion Council’s strategy.
What exactly it’s meant to achieve can be up for debate — publicity for Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo? Inspiration for younger designers? Projection of Japanese soft power? Who can say except for the organizers, but it’s clear that a one-off showing can hardly build the momentum needed to amount to anything substantial.
Over the years, it has resulted in a mixed bag of spectacular outings (Ambush) and some underwhelming results (COVID-19 put a damper on Undercover’s show) but for us attendees each is a treat — a way to be entertained without much invested in terms of analysis.
So, when Anrealage announced that they would be debuting their inaugural Anrealage Homme line (rather than repeating the show they put on in Paris two weeks ago; unlike BAPE last season) it was a moment to stop and ponder — could this actually be a purposeful show by a heavy-hitter and more than just a PR exercise?
In my years of attending fashion shows I have learnt one thing — when a brand is on the rise, they make all the right decisions, and so effortlessly, that you think they could do no wrong. Anrealage has been in that zone for the last few seasons.
Always forsaken for the avant-garde creations of Rei Kawakubo, the youthful rebellion of Jun Takahashi’s streetwear or the polished ladies of Chitose Abe, Designer Kunihiko Morinaga has quietly but confidently built his brand with his unique language that can form another pillar of Japanese fashion next to Rei, Issey, and Yohji. The show was rightfully given the finale slot on the last day of the official schedule. (There were a couple of amazing designers that showed afterwards but off schedule.)
As we were sitting waiting for the show to start, and the crowd was trickling in, a bomber jacket in trademark patchwork (a hallmark of the brand) could be seen on various guests. Like the show to follow, the jacket stood out in the sea of people who had come to witness this debut showing — understated and austere in its essence but nonetheless commanding center-stage with exquisite craftsmanship.
A little research later on informed me that the jacket is, in fact, a made-to-order item for the brand, utilizing its zero waste principles while giving you a custom, one-of-a-kind piece for approximately ¥500,000. Kunihiko Morinaga has just merged Saville Row tailoring and French Haute Couture, and made it look so easy that you might not even notice it if you weren’t paying close attention.
Designers spend years trying to build an original visual language that can become synonymous with their brand. Few succeed. Yet, even rarer is when a garment can be named after the designer, as is the case with the Chanel Jacket.
Anrealage with their Patchwork MA-1 Jacket may have created an item that should always be called the “Anrealeage Jacket” going forward, and that is an achievement most of his peers cannot lay claim to, even with their legendary status.
Anrealage with their Patchwork MA-1 Jacket may have created an item that should always be called the “Anrealage Jacket” going forward, and that is an achievement most of his peers cannot lay claim to, even with their legendary status.
The collection was a masterclass in menswear design (Nigo at Kenzo, please take note). Sometimes there are things that one feels but never fully comprehends until one encounters a special moment that crystallizes things. This show could be regarded as such a moment for the future of menswear design, and in turn, is equally a call-out to the lazy designing coming from established menswear brands.
The language was easy and accessible — bomber jackets, souvenir jackets, tailoring, timeless menswear silhouettes — but the treatment of each code showed off the fusion of vision and exquisite craftsmanship that has become synonymous with this brand, marking its place far above the competition.
In economic times where value for money is becoming more integral to consumers, no one offers that value for your dollars (or yen or perhaps yuan in the fast-approaching multipolar world) than Anrealage.
Going back to the Chanel Jacket — the all-over button embellished Anrealage version (it seems designers can’t escape Chanel’s influence these days) in pink that opened the show, might as well be crowned the best ensemble of the entire week! So much so that I’d say, if as a fashion aficionado you do not own one, then your wardrobe is incomplete! And 20 years from now, perhaps all designers will be doing their version of the Anrealage Jacket.
The collection was a masterclass in menswear design (Nigo at Kenzo, please take note). Sometimes there are things that one feels but never fully comprehends until one encounters a special moment that crystallizes things. This show could be regarded as such a moment for the future of menswear design, and in turn, is equally a call-out to the lazy designing coming from established menswear brands.
The language was easy and accessible — bomber jackets, souvenir jackets, tailoring, timeless menswear silhouettes — but the treatment of each code showed off the fusion of vision and exquisite craftsmanship that has become synonymous with this brand, marking its place far above the competition.
In economic times where value for money is becoming more integral to consumers, no one offers that value for your dollars (or yen or perhaps yuan in the fast-approaching multipolar world) than Anrealage.
Going back to the Chanel Jacket — the all-over button embellished Anrealage version (it seems designers can’t escape Chanel’s influence these days) in pink that opened the show, might as well be crowned the best ensemble of the entire week! So much so that I’d say, if as a fashion aficionado you do not own one, then your wardrobe is incomplete! And 20 years from now, perhaps all designers will be doing their version of the Anrealage Jacket.
The language was easy and accessible — bomber jackets, souvenir jackets, tailoring, timeless menswear silhouettes — but the treatment of each code showed off the fusion of vision and exquisite craftsmanship that has become synonymous with this brand, marking its place far above the competition.
In economic times where value for money is becoming more integral to consumers, no one offers that value for your dollars (or yen or perhaps yuan in the fast-approaching multipolar world) than Anrealage.
Going back to the Chanel Jacket — the all-over button embellished Anrealage version (it seems designers can’t escape Chanel’s influence these days) in pink that opened the show, might as well be crowned the best ensemble of the entire week! So much so that I’d say, if as a fashion aficionado you do not own one, then your wardrobe is incomplete! And 20 years from now, perhaps all designers will be doing their version of the Anrealage Jacket.