Kissa-Seibu is a traditional kissaten (Japanese coffee shop) in Shinjuku that looks as though it hasn’t been reupholstered since it opened in 1964. With its old-world charm, it’s a popular spot among Tokyo’s cool kids, but it will close its doors later this year. On a cloudy Monday afternoon, every seat in the house was filled, but the guests weren’t there to order banana parfait.
“I never like showing on the runway runway, with the big lights and everything,” said designer Yueqi Qi. “I like somewhere that has a story behind it.” And so the 27-year-old sent her cast of models down the aisles of the cafe.
It was Qi’s first time showing in Tokyo—she usually presents her work at Shanghai Fashion Week—and the collection continued on with the astrological themes she’s been exploring since last season. For this collection she reconsidered the linear trajectory of time, mixing psychedelic 1960s references with a Y2K sensibility, while the respective Japanese words for past, present, and future echoed over the speakers. The invitation to show in Tokyo had come from Qi’s longtime collaborator Tomihiro Kono, a Japanese hairstylist who created the show’s incredible cyberpunk-style wigs.
Beyond the anachronism, there’s a hell of a lot of detail that goes into Yueqi Qi’s designs; a stint as a Chanel intern has informed her innovative handiwork. Here, beaded nets of laser-cut plastic took on the aesthetic delicacy of lace, and scatters of sequins and crochet worked to elevate the more wearable staples. Elsewhere, oversized denim jackets and ’90s track pants unzipped across the legs and sleeves to reveal peeks of printed solar systems hiding within, giving the impression that the clothes contained the cosmos themselves.
The singer KOM_I, who this week announced her pregnancy on Instagram, was the star of the show, her baby bump glittering with a swoosh of silver paint. She and Qi followed each other online, but their first IRL meeting was a happy coincidence in Tokyo a few months ago: “I ran into her by chance at a hair salon and asked her to model,” said Qi. A sign from the universe if ever there were one.
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