White Mountaineering (Q3684)
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White Mountaineering is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | White Mountaineering |
White Mountaineering is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Backstage before his show, Yosuke Aizawa said via a translator that he was looking for a new life experience through clothing, a concept that goes beyond surface styling to bring added meaning to the products one chooses to wear.Titled Unplugged, the spring collection was partially inspired by the mountains, prairies, and shores the designer has yet to see, bringing another facet to a label informed by a life split between Tokyo and the mountains of Nagano. An overlong lineup of outdoorsy layer-ables drew on Aizawa’s personal history; for example, a lion print borrowed from an art book he discovered as a student, shown here on a windbreaker and on a shirt and shorts worn under a graphic jacquard sweater in sunbaked hues. In a nod to the label’s name and an ongoing fascination with snowfall, white silhouettes and textured knits referenced the view from the designer’s mountain retreat and a new boutique hotel-slash-home down the way called Not a Hotel, for which he recently completed the interior design.Technological advances have completely transformed the way he works day-to-day in terms of access to information as well as fabric development and production, the designer said. That led him to push further into functional patterns and resulted in a black technical windbreaker with snap-down flaps and secret zip breast pockets for keeping essentials safe and hands free to steer a car or motorbike at altitude. Wrinkle-free pants came in technical nylon discreetly set with a stretchy panel at the groin. A coat with a blurred motif in inky shades of black, white, and gray looked like it might have been tie-dyed; in fact, it was a rendering in jacquard of traditional Japanese calligraphy paper.White Mountaineering’s robust footwear program includes partnerships with Reebok, Rig Footwear, and Umbro, the Italian sneaker maker that this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. White Mountaineering’s base will snap those up, but whether the brand needs to travel all the way to Paris to reach that demographic is open to debate.
23 June 2024
“I believe that the distance of travel is proportionate to creativity,” Yosuke Aizawa said backstage before his show in Paris. Though the designer lives and works in Tokyo, he’s happiest when he’s out in the hinterlands of Nagano prefecture, two hours away.Snowboarding, motorcycling, and hitting the road in a vintage car (Porsche 961 or 928, preferably) are his hobbies, and the emotion of travel is his baseline, he said, adding that he always bears in mind a quote by his favorite author, Henry Miller: “One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”On the runway, he presented menswear that looked self-sufficient enough to move through life more or less unencumbered, save perhaps for a bag made in collaboration with Outdoor Products. Elsewhere, so-called bag jackets featured pockets set asymmetrically in front, with a larger one in the back that made a solid case for never bothering with a backpack again.Colorful daywear in hues of purple, blue, mustard, and burgundy was informed by outdoorsy preppy style; Fair Isle knits were paired with a technical jacket or a three-pocket herringbone coat. The patch knits and earth-toned flannels looked on point too.Aizawa often says that his idea of sustainability is things that you can wear for a really long time. Solutions like the ones shown here have brought collaborations with Globe-Trotter, Timberland, Reebok, and, soon, Uniqlo—which makes White Mountaineering something of a little brand that could.
22 January 2024
Yosuke Aizawa recently became a professor back in Japan. He has been teaching fashion and textile design and, as he’s become a mentor, he’s once again found himself a student. This he discovered as he revisited the ’70s and ’80s, which, he said, are some of the best eras to delve into. “There is a lot of good design that combines the past and the future,” he said backstage at his spring show today. “It’s good design philosophy, and a good influence.”He’s not wrong. The ’80s brought us the Memphis Group, Apple’s first Macintosh desktop, and even the Nintendo Entertainment System. All of which have, in different ways, significantly altered the way we engage with products and each other. But rather than fixate solely on aesthetics, Aizawa took the professorial route and also ruminated on the design approach of the time. This design philosophy of merging the retro with the contemporary and ready-made, he said, is parallel to his own, which he described as an effort to merge the modern and metropolitan with the technical and functional.Nowhere was this clearer than in the look that opened today’s show: Made with high-tech fabric, this two-piece suit cut with shrunken lapels and rounded sleeves was as dressed up as it was comfortable. Aizawa has a knack for maintaining the comfort and utility of technical fabrics without sacrificing aesthetics: See also his hybrids of dress jackets with gorpcore parkas or his reinterpretations of traditional Japanese silhouettes in contemporary cuts.But there was also an element of nostalgia here. Aizawa was born in the late ’70s, so his callbacks to the years he grew up in were less didactic and more personal. A definitive reference here wasBack to the Future(1985) and the DeLorean, the time traveling car in the movie that he printed on the back of a jacket. There were also Memphis-esque prints in knits and color-block utility parkas in ’80s color tones, which playfully lifted the lineup.The refreshing takeaway here was that you don’t need to wear athleisure in order to be comfortable. Though much of fashion is currently preoccupied with dressing men up with jackets in place of hoodies and dress shoes in lieu of hype sneakers, Aizawa is concerned with how these clothes go with our lifestyles today and not the other way around. It’s good to see that the designer’s return to Paris last season has not diverted him from his resolve of making extremely wearable, functional yet still desirable clothes.
24 June 2023
In the three years since White Mountaineering last showed a collection in Paris, Yosuke Aizawa’s life has fundamentally changed. Over the course of the pandemic, he built himself a house in the middle of a forest in the mountains outside Nagano, Japan—a refined mix of raw concrete and polished wood, with double-height glass windows and a huge roaring fire, as per a series of pictures on his iPhone which he shyly showed this reporter backstage. The designer now splits his time between wilderness and metropolis, making the four-hour commute to his atelier in Tokyo when he feels life requires an injection of pace.Time apart from the fashion industry has strengthened Aizawa’s resolve to create clothes that can handle the dual demands of urban and pastoral. It has also afforded him an opportunity to pore over imagery by his friend Naoki Ishikawa, the Japanese climber, writer and photographer. In 2012, Ishikawa successfully summited Manaslu in Nepal, the eighth-highest mountain in the world. Ten years later, he summited for a second time, documenting his trip in a series of evocative images. So taken was Aizawa with these photographs that he decided to publish them in a book, copies of which were distributed at his show in Faculté de Pharmacie. These images also formed the basis of his inspiration for fall.Fresh off the back of a successful collaboration with Uniqlo in November, and a second link-up with Italian performancewear label Colmar, which sees Aizawa take on a creative consultant role for the brand’s premium Revolution line, White Mountaineering is riding high on a wave of wider recognition. It’s longer a niche label for gorpcore devotees and Japanophiles, and Aizawa was clearly feeling confident backstage. “My two different lifestyles—in the mountains and in the city—have inspired this collection. We’ve been using a lot of high-tech, multi-functional fabrics with low-tech ones,” he said, pointing out a generously cut, charcoal wool padded gilet with a Gore-Tex lining. Another favorite outfit comprised charcoal flannel pants paired with a blanket-style wool skirt, a camo fleece and a duffel coat.In evidence throughout was Aizawa’s savvy collaborative mindset—Nepal-inspired knitwear two-pieces were paired with Vans; earth-toned Colmar puffers and Gramicci technical cargos were shown with Merrell hiking boots or Danner suede lace-up walking boots—which gave the whole thing a wonderfully wearable authenticity.
You could see any one of these pieces becoming a wardrobe staple for biting winter weekends or casual Fridays. Furthermore, those audience members flipping through the book of Ishikawa’s photographs and feeling energized to scale a mountain will certainly know where to go to secure their summit look.
21 January 2023
Yosuke Aizawa has been spending his time in the mountains of Nagano, where he not too long ago moved into a new house. Just under four hours from Tokyo, where he often works, Nagano is an idyllic mountainous prefecture in Japan. It is also where Aizawa designed his spring collection, and where he shot the accompanying lookbook.Inspired by the duality of the two locations, Aizawa combined utilitarian, high-tech design with a “low-tech” sensibility (as he called it through a translator during a call) fit for a slow-paced, mountain town life. Pieces like wide, cropped trousers, simple band collar button-downs, collarless jackets, and a kimono-sleeve loosely tailored jacket confidently captured the casual, comfortable spirit of the city-to-town commuter that Aizawa himself now represents. A Vans collaboration brought the idea full circle, “I wanted to create clothes that sat with the shoes,” he said, “not high-tech, [but] casual and easy.”By merging these casual elements with his precise (and very popular) high-tech point of view, Aizawa delivered a fresh update to his very consistent narrative. The fact that this collection is unfuzzy, directional, and straightforward is no mistake either. By skipping Paris fashion week in favor of a lookbook, he found space to focus on the smaller picture. “For runway I tend to focus on the full collection,” he said, “but for this I was able to really focus on the product, I was able to focus on each individual piece,” he added.Aizawa’s mission this season was building a collection that can be “worn by anyone,” he said, and it’s the mix of high- and low-tech (what I see as his own version ofhigh-low) that informed a collection that feels approachable and slightly less esoteric than usual. Here, his customer has the choice of engaging with his signature gore-tex jackets and outdoor utility vests and cargos or leaning into the laid-back quarter button-downs, sweatshirts, and plain tailored jackets.Aizawa is looking forward to returning to the runway next season, but keeping this small-picture, high-tech low-tech approach might just be the way to go. The last look, a clean-face black jacket with hidden closures paired with cropped, baggy trousers, is a homerun–a happy medium between outdoor gear and everyday utility. It’s one his customers, both outdoor sports aficionados and urban gorpcore fans, will surely welcome.
27 July 2022
When we checked in with Yosuke Aizawa back in June of 2021, his house in the mountains of Nagano was still under construction. Six months later and the designer is settled, and his getaway four hours from Tokyo is where he crafted his fall 2022 collection. Bustling city energy can be a source of inspiration, but so can solitude, and this season Aizawa sought serenity. Eager to share the beauty of his surroundings and the mood they evoked, he set out to imbue his clothing with a sense of calm. His lengthy red and black cloaks, cropped knit trousers, and anoraks in textured fabrics were appropriately relaxed, but they retained their edge. As cozy and effortless as his pieces were, Aizawa isn’t making the jump into loungewear, and his work remains focused on the streets, be they in Shinjuku or closer to a hiking trail.After concluding 2021 with his big move and successful Uniqlo collaboration, Aizawa was taken by the idea of coziness. “Now I realize that comfort is more important than I’d previously considered,” he shared via Zoom. “For the outerwear, we’ve always used Gortex, it’s our iconic fabric, but now we’ve used patterns where it’s going to be so much easier for the people who wear them to move around in.” Outerwear was especially strong this season thanks to utilitarian pieces, enticing hues of navy or ochre, and a series of memorable prints. First up, a series of deconstructed tartan patterns on capes, jackets, and matching sets with the ease of pajamas. Delivered in Aizawa’s favorite colors—black and red—they were an appealing twist on the lumberjack motif Woolrich turned out on in the ’90s and looked great when mixed with other motifs.The overarching mood of the collection was best represented by the optical illusion of a faux “camouflage” pattern. At first glance, the playful print seemed military issue, but a quick zoom in revealed green and white flower petals that are guaranteed to elicit smiles. “Every week, I wind up buying flowers either for myself or someone else,” says Aizawa. “I added that fabric because of how much I love flowers and the impact nature has had [in my life.] I wanted to represent that in something that people could wear every day.”
26 January 2022
Camping outdoors is a big thing in Japan; lockdowns have only enforced an already existing passion for time spent in nature, making it part of the pandemic’s survival kit. White Mountaineering’s Yosuke Aizawa shares the sentiment. Zooming from his studio, he announced that he was actually building a house in the mountains of the Nagano prefecture, a three-hour drive from Tokyo: “I’m kind of enjoying the commute from the city. It’s like living a double life,” he joked.The Japanese do outdoors with style—no one else can make the functional look as concisely chic as they do. White Mountaineering’s high-performance-meets-urban-cool lexicon, honed in its 15 years as one of the most successful of Japan’s niche menswear labels, gave a convincing rendition for spring. Aizawa elevated his personal experience of shuttling between his office and his alpine lodge into a utilitarian offering of relaxed, roomy outerwear (think ease and comfort of construction, military inspiration, layered earth tones and plenty of capacious pockets) squaring off against a sequence of all-black, sleek, almost ninja-esque silhouettes from the label’s BLK line. “Both proposals are intended to be worn with equal ease while enjoying open-air activities in the mountains or to zing efficiently through the city,” said Aizawa, who’s embracing the need of streamlining options for our post-pandemic lifestyles.The intermediate territory between the opposite yin-yang directions was covered by a gentle blooming of floral prints and small-scale geometric jacquards on boxy shirts-and-Bermudas combos, or on sporty blousons worn with matching loose trousers. Aizawa said that those elaborate patterns can only be made by small Japanese factories which are on the brink of disappearance; he’s actively involved in supporting them, as well as the responsible practices which are increasingly gaining traction in the Japanese fashion landscape and in its production and supply chains. “Using organic or recycled textiles jibes with the natural feel of the collection,” said Aizawa who, from his authoritative position as a professor at Tama Art University, has made sustainability one of the main themes of his courses.
26 June 2021
White Mountaineering’s founder and designer Yosuke Aizawa had his fall video shot high up on Mount Tomamu on Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island; it stars a band of buddies on the slopes. On a Zoom call from Tokyo, Aizawa said his primary message was that even—and perhaps especially—in difficult times, it’s important to go to the White Mountain (take that literally or figuratively) and reconnect with who you are and what you stand for. “It’s important to be yourself and live your own life,” he offered through a translator. “Whatever happens you have to just keep moving forward.”In the film, all the models wear pieces from the collection, which features mixes of high performance textiles including a new Gore-Tex fabric. The brand is also expanding its use of eco-polyester and eco-fleece and plans to incorporate more virtuous materials with upcoming collections.Key silhouettes highlighted an earthy color palette, which Aizawa said was his way of emphasizing living with nature. What started out as an orange scarf in a plain knit with a traditional parquet pattern ultimately became a poncho. He called that “the ideal mountain piece,” and also developed a high-performance camouflage that he described as “blending into everyday life.” A handful of coats made bold statements, including a color-blocked green shearling, a few checked numbers, and a pixelated camouflage.The brand’s many collaborations continue too: Fall will bring three new sneaker styles designed with the sports company Mizuno that combine performance mesh with suede. And while this collection features men’s looks, the brand sells women’s wear in Japan and hopes to include women’s pieces whenever a return to the Paris runway becomes possible. Meanwhile, sailing down the pistes in virgin snow gives a shut-in world something to fantasize about.
26 January 2021
When White Mountaineering stages its shows in Paris, the models wearing Yosuke Aizawa’s high-performance looks often zip by so fast that guests might be left with little more than a fleeting impression of his exacting approach. Whether aware of this or not, he clearly wanted today’s video and corresponding lookbook to reveal more than what we usually see.Briefly, the futuristic video (produced in collaboration with Rhizomatiks, a Tokyo arts and technology studio) conjures a virtual dimension where the patterns that comprise a garment digitally materialize into the garments themselves. If the process is depicted as deliberately glitchy, the effect is that you are able to better understand how each piece results from several parts. Meanwhile, these same pattern pieces have been printed along with other technical specs in the linings of White Mountaineering’s BLK label and the lookbook includes inside-out views of these sartorial schematics.“When everything is black, it is difficult to show the customer how we make the clothes,” said Aizawa from his Tokyo showroom. “We make original textiles but we also take care of pattern making… and we wanted to show how this is worked into the design.” While most of the team’s energy went into perfecting these avatar-like reconstructions, the collection progressed through a mostly representative WM repertoire. After the BLK lineup—which combined the usual utility, sport, and tactical gear references—was a sequence of relaxed tailoring and dressier layered ensembles. A speckled gray jacket and shorts in linen and nylon with a blue-striped shirt was a winning suit alternative. Tie-print shirts (reproduced from one of Aizawa’s earliest tie-dye fabrics) and parkas, vests, and overskirts in earthy hues had a necessary grounding effect within this pulsing void. But even this video couldn’t capture that many of these pieces were entirely seamless, which Aizawa pointed out as a detail that elevates both look and feel. “For people who really like fashion, it can be boring to just wear the outdoor brands,” he said. “We want to create something forward—the essence of fashion with performance wear.”Known for his un-boring sneaker combinations, Aizawa developed a new, all-black style for Saucony that is composed with steel in the sole, apparently to improve running speed. The shoe in his hands looked sleek and finessed but not flashy, which pretty much sums up Aizawa’s ethos.
In a few years the video’s special effects might feel quaintly dated, but clothes like these are likely to age well.
12 July 2020
Perhaps it’s to be expected that following a season inspired by the extreme sports of trail running and BMX biking, Yosuke Aizawa would opt to slow down a bit—something along the lines of a nature walk. While out doing just that, he said the layers of leaves that carpeted the ground reminded him of the way he layers his technical garments. Accordingly, this collection assumed an earthier quality right from the start, with a leafy photo print playing out across puffers and parkas, snowboard-style pants and carryall bags. In addition, there was a pixelated cloud print, as though Aizawa had shifted his gaze upward and zoomed in on the image to the point of abstraction. Both, to some extent, ended up registering like a kinder camo by blending in with nature minus the military messaging.Though Aizawa is always seeking out new collaborations, this season amounted to a White Mountaineering dream team: Levi’s, Colmar, Ugg, Saucony, Danner Gore-Tex, and Millet mountain bags (there may have been others still). Working with denim was a great exercise for the designer who embraced the natural, relaxed qualities rather than forcing something too technical. He proudly showed off the blue Levi’s tag, which is obviously part of the appeal. Otherwise, Ugg should be delighted with Aizawa’s designs: simplified, streamlined everyday boots and cuissardes that were as flattering as could be expected from a nylon-paneled sheepskin boot rising just below the knee.Those who have been following White Mountaineering’s path for long enough know that Aizawa occasionally ventures into more experimental layering—overskirts and longer shell pieces that add attitude but are probably unnecessary. He pared back much of this, instead adding different volumes directly to garments, such as pants softly tiered with fringe. He did, however, introduce one new layer: hand-assembled necklaces made from keys or craft pieces in a brilliant deep blue. A theme of falling leaves is, by its very nature, ephemeral and linked to the season; yet Aizawa could certainly build upon other ideas—from the jeans to the jewelry—and linger a while longer on this path.
19 January 2020
Despite being a label so linked to the outdoors, White Mountaineering’s Paris shows have only ever taken place indoors, which always felt a little incongruous. Today, the covered-yet-open-air terrace of a Sorbonne University building was a game-changer; what a difference a breeze makes! The models didn’t need to be trail running or BMX biking—two of the extreme sports that inspired Yosuke Aizawa this season—for the audience to imagine guys wearing his high-impact looks off the runway.The Tokyo-based designer explained that he imbues pieces with a “discord ambiance,” which might mean anything from a T-shirt boasting overlaid letters spelling nothing to Gore-Tex outerwear paired with linen pants. These “coincidences,” as he also called them, were a way of integrating pieces that wouldn’t normally be found in either athletic attire or streetwear—think classic shirting adapted with technical straps and pleated shorts that looked more like skorts. Aizawa goes through phases of favoring bold prints, and today’s lush and color-saturated botanicals might have been his boldest yet. If common sense would suggest these have limited interest, the designer has pointed out before that people are very happy to experiment beyond black (although those pieces too were hardly boring). Plaid, animal spots, paisley, and painterly camo made for a particularly dynamic lineup of active eccentrics—guys who not only sported next-level sneaker designs, but also a smear of colorful eye makeup.Compared to the Sacai show earlier in the day, White Mountaineering isn’t perceived with the same cachet despite many overlapping elements (both mastered their soundtracks, it should be said). Make no mistake, Aizawa’s vision is his own—and if athleisure trends start to shift towards these dandy-ish mash-ups, we’ll have him to thank.
23 June 2019
Imbalance and mutation were the overarching ideas behind this high-impact White Mountaineering show. Yosuke Aizawa credited the inescapable “ambience in the world” right now. But he said he was also interested in applying the words to his silhouettes, which, historically, he conceives as an idiosyncratic balance of layers.Tonight, the layers were double, triple, quadruple thick—and that’s not even counting the multi-buckled harness, the knit face mask, and the strappy head brace that seemed designed for adverse conditions, be they natural or man-made. Overskirts atop pants, shorts over pants, blanket coats over sweaters, vests over flannel shirts, and jackets over jackets—each permutation hinted at a grunge influence updated with streetwear and tactical gear, all in the service of staying warm and protected. Indeed, you wonder how much clothing these guys would shed upon coming in from the cold.Make no mistake, though, the collection excelled by delivering useful, statement-making products that benefited from the expertise of several specialty brands. Coats in tweed and blanket patchworks were once again stealthily lined in Gore-Tex; the hiking boots were based on a popular trail style by Danner; and the Adidas designs were definitely original. Whereas the latest Eastpak collaboration took utility vests to the extreme with oversize pouches and logos, the new collaboration of logo outerwear with French heritage brand Millet was accessibly sporty.As a legit alpinist (he goes hiking in the north of Japan), Aizawa creates both what he knows he should be wearing (well-made technical pants, for instance) and the frivolous, urbanized equivalents (a vest trimmed with carabiners). Prints were equally binary, from a grayscale “snow camouflage” assembled from his own photos of mountaintops to a digital composite of threatening animal faces. These came closest to the “discord” Aizawa cited as the mood he aimed to evoke, for everything else was less a mutation than a constructive reaction to current events—quite literally, to outside forces.
19 January 2019
What a fearless display from Yosuke Aizawa today. Amid such intensity of color and pattern, it seems even more remarkable that his White Mountaineering collections are conceived as functional clothing. A keen snowboarder, he says he tests certain pieces in action—and that each season presents the challenge of advancing both the fashion and the performance aspects simultaneously. Developments as seemingly obvious as color-blocked Gortex, or Madras cloth reimagined as technical nylon, were among the many eye-catching updates this season. “I’ve been doing outerwear as fashion for many years and I’ve seen it become bigger and bigger, so now I have to put in more originality,” Aizawa explained from a classroom within the Lycée Henri IV school—a world away from the slopes of Hokkaido. That so many brands this week have placed their bets on a more active-influenced wardrobe only further validates his approach.Aizawa cited ’90s hip-hop videos as inspiration for all the bold mixing and matching. Microphone check-on-check-on-check, you might say. And he drew attention to various layers, including memory nylon, cut-and-sew shirts interspersed with seamless logo tape, and outerwear coated in polyurethane. New, high-contrast Eastpak bags and sneakers paneled in reflective material drew attention all on their own (other styles were a continuation of his collaboration with Adidas Terrex).Whether guys are brave enough to go for White Mountaineering’s peak color statements seemed of little concern to Aizawa because, for one thing, the collection gradually progressed into more muted schemes of army green, then black that maintained an equal level of subtler detail. But the models who were layered to the max looked marvelously dandified—thrill-seekers in sport and in style.
23 June 2018
Never underestimate the role of lighting in a fashion show. Had today’s White Mountaineering collection played out in natural daylight, you might have sensed a laid-back, weekend quality to the clothes. The theatricality of spotlights whirling through a darkened hall in the minutes before the first model appeared made this collection seem more extreme. You could be forgiven for wondering, were these guys going climbing or clubbing? In fact, Yosuke Aizawa confirmed backstage that he did have mountains on the mind, more so than in previous collections. Specifically, he wanted to channel a higher altitude experience where a tranquil setting starts to become more extreme. “As you go higher, you lose feeling,” he explained. Adrenaline can be a good catalyst for creation; and whether drawing on personal experience or not, the Japanese designer seemed to raise his own stakes in order to raise the reward.And thus, the collection proved elevated. Aizawa played to his strength, outerwear, by creating great juxtapositions of Gore-Tex and earthy flannel. He experimented with traditional sweater patterns, at times arranging them into sleeker, all-over looks, or else accentuating their graphic impact. Here, the purpose of the climbing gear was aesthetic: clusters of carabiners looped through back straps as an alternative to jewelry, lacing common to backpacks became a decorative accent on dungarees; and coats of arms from climbing regions such as Switzerland ended up as a color-saturated print. Fleece, the outerwear workhorse usually dismissed as basic, was paneled into a soft blouson matched in comfort by White Mountaineering’s collaboration with Uggs (following earlier initiatives this season with Y/Project and Sacai). If, by the final heavy-duty grouping in black, the lineup started to feel a few looks too many, each could be defended as its own slant on refined recreational; for retailers, this would be very appealing. “Brand roots,” said Aizawa proudly, of the authenticity and versatility on display.
20 January 2018
“Off-duty” was among the first impressions jotted down when the White Mountaineering show opened with a wonderfully washed and worn denim work coat (if you’re wondering, “soft” was another). And it seemed applicable to pretty much the entire collection, right up until the washed gray denim of the last look. Afterward, Yosuke Aizawa explained that the collection was taking cues from any job that requires manual labor; he rhymed off carpenters, painters, and artists as examples. So Aizawa pictured his guys working, just not at a desk. And an authentic connection to workwear mattered so much to him that he partnered up with Wrangler on a jean capsule; the original W on the left pocket is accompanied by an M on the right. “Wrangler has such a long history. To combine fashion and workwear, I feel I needed that in this collection.”Making room for this didn’t mean an absence of activewear, though; its presence could still be felt in much of the technical outerwear in addition to Aizawa’s color-blocked sneakers and sleek sandals. But the blanket patterns coaxed into unstructured and draped shapes offered ample proof that these guys had eased up on the survivalist style for something more carefree. And they were a diverse, well-compensated, wanderlust-y lot, as easily representing the type of guy who spends an unreasonable amount of time flying (putting those abstracted calligraphy parkas and sport pants to use) as the one making land art. Not all of them could justify a luxe suede hoodie, but the emphasis on sweats and T-shirts leaned more down-market this season. Otherwise, Aizawa’s respect for the art and toil of workmanship deserves respect in return.
24 June 2017
The latest White Mountaineering outing stood out strongest for its emphasis on black. This simplifies what was actually a well-developed collection, but it’s worth pointing out the pivot from Spring, when Yosuke Aizawa showed saturated jungle and camo motifs on clothes suitable for an adventure vacation in Thailand. Since then, the global mind-set has changed, and the attitude tonight seemed more assertive. This couldn’t have been a coincidence. “It’s not political,” the Japanese designer said before adding, “I’m more inspired by rescue workers, military, and police—people who are facing serious, dangerous situations.” The opening black Cordura jackets (the nylon fabric is used by luggage companies and the military)—some accented with utility pouches, storm hoods, and detachable skirts—signaled serious people of another variety: stylized special ops in a slick Hollywood film, Silicon Valley VCs on winter vacation, health goths. Essentially, the outerwear looked legitimately resistant and rather upscale. As the lineup progressed, Aizawa toned down the toughness just enough to introduce sweaters that seemingly merged alpine motifs with QR codes, blousons with draw cords to adjust volumes, and knit legwarmers (most bottoms were extra lean).A utilitarian outfit covered in a print of branches and oak leaves transitioned the looks back to familiar White Mountaineering territory, where tech fabrics integrated seamlessly with distressed denim and easy layers. Of the final red grouping, Aizawa explained that for him, “Red is the opposite of black. It’s a different expression of strength.”He noted how many of the materials were selected because they really can be worn outside in cold temperatures; hence the T-shirt with “Outdoor” printed like a rock band logo. The back of another boasted additional words: “over protection,” “water resistant,” “insulated,” “windshield.” Aizawa’s meticulous, deliberate approach to design means that many interior details probably went unobserved here. But it’s interesting to consider that those fortunate enough to wear these pieces will be dressed as though heading out into the world, not retreating from it.
21 January 2017
By now, women appearing in men’s collections—and vice versa—may no longer be a novelty, but it’s safe to say the guests at theWhite MountaineeringSpring show weren’t expecting to see so many girls, so many skirts, and even a flash of boob. While Yosuke Aizawa had included women in the presentation for his collaboration Adidas Originals at Pitti earlier this year, this endeavor solidly divided the looks, thus attaining a broader brand positioning. Doing design double-duty has allowed the Tokyo-based Aizawa to exercise his athletic side with the Adidas offering, where he reconfigured the three-stripe with Op Art impact, while further distancing himself from conventional activewear under his own label. This was evident from the show’s outset when neon blue light and a smoke machine established the fantasy ambience of an aquatic rave. A jungle pattern that could have been the digital descendant of Henri Rousseau’s well-known works colonized a technical duster coat, relaxed pants, and a minidress pleated from a scooped neckline. They set the scene for subsequent groupings; the first spotlighting multicolored camo in the manner of Murakami and nautical-themed sportswear; the next pivoting towards southeast Asia by tapping into a subcategory of streetwear more commonly sold at outdoor markets than concept stores. Hence the reinvention of wraparound pants, tunics, and short-sleeved shirts with Gore-Tex and other technical materials. One robe coat felt stiff and sturdy enough to serve as a tent.At the risk of riffing too much on Aizawa’s label name, each recent collection gives the sense that he’s reached the next base camp; the looks are moving more global without losing his distinct Japanese finesse. Clothing aside, the crisscrossed stripe slip-ons, spongy sneakers, embroidered sandals, and logo espadrilles covered all the footwear bases. They’ll come in handy for anyone—male or female—who relates to the mantra messaged across the back of a jean jacket: Life is like a voyage.
25 June 2016
While this year marksWhite Mountaineering’s 10th anniversary, action and recognition have accelerated only within the past few years. In naming this collection Trailblazer, Yosuke Aizawa has managed to define his visual statement and pat himself on the back (whether purposely or not). Bravo on both counts. Regarding the former: The designer used a buffalo check motif in his first collection, and a modified version opened the show today—his Paris runway debut. He paired the utility jacket and matching overskirt-cum-carpenter’s belt with a faux-fur waistcoat and super-slim jeans, their holes patched by a khaki campy print. Nothing was exceptionally original, but few would deny the overall cool. The arrival of a polished ikat-esque jacquard gave subsequent looks a gutsy twist.For Aizawa, it was important that these familiar American patterns—whether bandana or Pendleton-style blanket—evince a Japanese sensibility. How, he couldn’t, or perhaps wouldn’t, explain precisely, beyond an aim to project fashion. But this was answer enough considering that most of the statement coats were lined with lightweight quilted padding. That would suggest that the performance aspects were no less integral to this collection—just less obvious. Given that White Mountaineering already showed itscollaboration with Adidas at Pittilast week, Aizawa was free this time to chart new territory entirely on his own terms—and that included unveiling his new monochromatic sport line, BLK, with its down-filled shorts and leg warmers, both worn over second-skin pants. Gotta keep blazin’ that trail.
24 January 2016
The White Mountaineering presentation opened with designer Yosuke Aizawa's first full capsule collection for Adidas Originals (previously, he had only created footwear for the athletic behemoth). The 10 body-con looks—all in a palette of gray, blue, black, and white—reinterpreted essential sports layers like a chef deconstructs a legendary dish. Simply by angling the iconic stripes diagonally or tweaking their tone, he made them more kinetic. The all-navy sneakers were Aizawa's strongest contribution; again, nothing reinvented yet noticeably finessed. Or, as Nic Galway, vice president of global design at Adidas Originals, put it: "He looks forward while staying true to the archive."While there's no question as to the compatibility of these mates, the designer was at peak performance when going solo. Here, he operates outside the playbook, unafraid to imbue his functional apparel with a distinct flamboyance. Embroidered bulls attempted to butt heads from opposite sides of a navy blouson, and a vaguely Ottoman decorative pattern livened up a nylon combo of shell and shorts with a corresponding jacquard base layer. He took a self-referential turn by printing the pattern specifications of his garments onto the completed pieces. All the while, ruched sweatpants, T-shirts with flattened seams that eliminated stitching, finely perforated jerseys, and jackets in camo jacquard that mimicked suede reinforced Aizawa's faith in fabrication above high-octane image. Original, indeed.
27 June 2015
If your first impression of this latest White Mountaineering collection is that the label has taken a military direction, bear in mind that such apparel is typically designed for the outdoors; it's not like Yosuke Aizawa has gone rogue with loungewear. But backstage after a presentation in which a pack of hale young models paused around a custom-printed tent, the designer explained that he settles first on materials, then message. Gore-Tex, no surprise, figured prominently in his outerwear; only this season it took many guises, including corduroy. "I've been working with Gore-Tex for 10 years, so now it's about refining the fabric," Aizawa said through a translator.The designer maneuvered through the military influence laterally, interpreting camouflage as tonal geometric, floral, and owl motifs—the more, the better. This certainly would not hold true had the patterning been multicolored; but remaining within these strict, muted schemes allowed Aizawa the latitude to style his looks with wraparound skirts and ponchos that guys might conceivably wear IRL. If not, the collection still offered a key lesson in layering: Double up your outerwear, even when it includes a luxe leather bomber.After the show, a Paris influencer could be heard enthusing over the footwear, which marked White Mountaineering's second collaboration with Adidas. But Aizawa, who was Junya Watanabe's assistant until he launched his line in 2006, had been on a steady rise before the sneaker hype. His outdoorsy ankle-bearing pants—"knickers," as he calls them—are now accepted as mainstream fashion. And as an avid snowboarder, he makes sure his technical jackets hold up on the slopes. It's a testament to his brand name, if there was ever any doubt.
23 January 2015