How great Soshi Otsuki’s lookbooks have been for his past three collections (and how viral they’ve gone as a result) is testament to the designer’s deftness for realizing his vision. That vision in recent seasons has been a contemporary crystallization of Japan’s Bubble Era, when bank balances were big and the suits were bigger (and made in Italy). This season’s was his best iteration of it yet—the men and women in their beautifully draped, louchely oversized tailoring look like work portraits from the swaggiest Zaibatsu you’ve ever seen—and his vision of Japanese masculinity feels fresh, punchy, and cool. His task over the next few seasons is to find new ways to keep the momentum going.
Otsuki’s experience with the LVMH Prize was a big influence on the smaller details of this season. Part of this year’s cohort of eight finalists, he couldn’t help but feel conscious of how his clothes appeared hanging in the presentation space in comparison to everyone else’s (ah, that old thief of joy). “The judges look at the clothes as they are on the racks, so this time I wanted to create something that wasn’t just based on how the clothes look in the photos,” he said during a showroom walkthrough in Tokyo. “This time I focused more on product.” Otsuki was being unfair on himself—his fabrics and draping typically look excellent on and off the body, but his effort to boost hanger appeal is wise.
For example: extra fabric was built into the inside placket of a shirt (see look 16) to give the suggestion of a tucked-in necktie, that could be hidden or exposed depending on how it was buttoned up. “It’s technically a styling suggestion, but there’s also a pocket for the tie. It’s about enhancing the affinity between the styling and the product,” Otsuki said. Deadstock kimono silk had been repurposed into the button-up shirts, and 1980s cotton-washi fabric had been used for much of the tailoring, which recalled the glamour and prosperity of the era that the designer enjoys riffing on. He aimed for what he called a “quiet intensity” in each piece, and achieved it.
The announcement of the prize looms in September, and with a 300,000-euro endowment at stake, the pressure is on. When asked if he was pleased to get this far, to the finals, he frowned as if the question was insane. “No, not at all,” he deadpanned, before grinning. “I want to win.”