Hyke’s steady come-up has coincided with the wider rise of gorpcore, which at this point seems to have had its place in contemporary fashion cemented—helped along by the pandemic, which encouraged more people to get outside. But husband-and-wife designers Hideaki Yoshihara and Yukiko Ode are no clout-chasers; they’ve been doing their nattily feminine interpretation of military-inspired techwear for a decade now, and manage to make it feel fresh each season by dutifully building on what they have done before and making clever tweaks as they go.
This season, those tweaks came in the form of subtle fabric updates to existing styles, as well as a few new pieces. The polka dots on monochrome maxi dresses, for instance, were in fact made up of tiny graphic squares, and squares also appeared in the form of holes on the handbags, which were made in collaboration with Chacoli.
A shock of red materialized this season too, which delivered a satisfying point of difference to the neutral shades in the rest of the collection. “We always add a bit of color. We use a lot of olive green, so we’re always trying to find shades that will look good with that,” Ode said.
The designer has spent a lot of time over the past few months trail-running in the mountains near Zushi in Kanagawa prefecture (where the brand has an atelier), and so the vests and Nordic sweaters were cropped to recall performance running vests, or incorporated handy compartments for holding a water bottle.
As is usually the case with Hyke, the real draw of these pieces was about how genuinely utilitarian they looked. The parka coats were made from a Pertex Shield material which is windproof, waterproof, breathable, and lightweight, while the khaki and black jumpsuits were made from a thick knit that managed to retain a fluid lightness. The floaty dobby check dresses were a standout, crafted from a quick-drying, moisture-wicking ‘Soalon’ fabric that could go from the mountains to the metro with grace.
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