N. Hoolywood’s Daisuke Obana is a master at marrying “functionality and fashionability,” a term he used in regard to a specific look, but which applies to his work as a whole. He is an expert in vintage American workwear and military gear; the latter is the focus of the brand’s Test Product Exchange line.
The M.O. here is adapting details of utility garments for civilian ones, and there is a focus on technical fabrics. Water-repellent coated ripstop and high-density fleece are some of the materials put to use in this spring collection. Adding a spark of color to a muted, even somber palette of neutrals are largish red tab adjusters inspired by those found on the kit used for bomb disposal by Britain’s military, while the drawcords they are attached to can be traced back to cargo pants worn by German forces. The cords enable the wearer to customize the proportions, dimension, fit, and prevent heat from escaping. The rest of fashion is catching up with N. Hoolywood’s appreciation of adjustability; we saw many designers experimenting with multi-wear garments during resort.
Functionality is a practical aspect of Obana’s aesthetic. There’s an exactitude to his work—in past seasons he’s gone into painstaking detail to shoot a model in poses that could be seamlessly slipped into images on vintage postcards (pre-fall 2022), and he worked to “reproduce video work in the way it was in the ’80s” (spring 2023). This might be read as a variation of “practice what you preach,” or the positive belief that solutions can be found. Maybe if you can use design to make things actually work, there are methods that can be employed to improve life on earth?
In any case, Obana’s ambition and commitment was obvious this season. In a friend’s field in Niigata prefecture, he and his team spent a week digging a 40 meter long and three meter deep trench. “This action,” he wrote, “expresses our desire for a world where such activities are unnecessary.” Amen to that.
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