Rainmaker (Q8978)
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Rainmaker is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Rainmaker |
Rainmaker is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Wa, a catchall term for a traditional (and sometimes intangible) sense of ‘Japaneseness’, is something Rainmaker’s Kohichi Watanabe knowingly channels into his clothes. The 44-year-old designer did that and more this season, riffing on what he called the “common consciousness” of Eastern and Western art in the 1920s: Art Deco in American and Europe, and Mingei folk-art in Japan, which found beauty in everyday utensils like teacups and lacquerware (very wa, in case you were wondering).“Taking both [Art Deco and Mingei] together, we can see the liberation of art, which had previously been enjoyed only by the privileged classes, to the masses,” the designer shared over email. Always one to commit fully to a theme, this season Watanabe left his Kyoto base to shoot the collection in the Art Deco-style reception hall of the Air and Space Museum in northern Paris.It was a good match for Watanabe’s design nous, which lies in how deftly he works classic Japanese silhouettes and details into contemporary (i.e. Western) dress to make clothes that would look at home in the wardrobes of discerning men and women the world over. This time, the lineup of asymmetric tuxedos, futon-inspired bed jackets, striped shirts, fleece cloaks, and swishy trousers created a gentle dissonance that showed Rainmaker at a compelling high.Lending a change of tone was a smattering of technical fabrics in the Polartec fleeces and long coats. Look 12, with the cotton-stuffed futon jacket worn over a knee-length waterproof coat, is Watanabe’s favorite: “I think the contrast between the use of functional materials and the linear structure of the clothes emphasizes the fusion of wa and Western style well,” he said.Rainmaker also continued its work with local and international artisans. This season they included Yutaka Kawai, a painter from Tochigi prefecture who created the collection’s abstract prints of cobalt blue cutouts, and a three-way collaboration with bag designer Ryuki Yamaka and tie-dye specialist Bunzaburo Shoten to create bags inspired by old Japanese ‘biku,’ or wicker fish baskets. The shimmering gold lapels on the last look were a detail from Kyoto textile company Hosoo (founded in 1688) made by weaving metallic threads into fabric to create the effect of armor plating—a samurai suit you could also wear to dinner.
Though Rainmaker keeps one eye on the past, it proposes a convincing vision of how age-old techniques and forgotten design flourishes can be utilized for now, bringing them into the future with a gliding ease. Wa for the world.
30 January 2024
Ever the art lover, Kohichi Watanabe based his spring 24 collection on the famous paintingIrisesby the Japanese artist Korin Ogata, a key figure in the Rinpa school of art started in 17th century Kyoto. Though Watanabe’s references often pick up on Japan’s rich cultural history, his touch is a contemporary one, twisting the elegance of traditional details into modern wearable (i.e. Western) clothing.This time he brought in help. Together with Nishimura Shoten—a Kyoto manufacturer of foil and gold leaf currently in its third generation of artisans—Watanabe created a uniqueIrises-inspired print, painting leaves and flowers over traditional baked foil to create a gradient of iridescence. “We tried to emulate the Rinpa expression in the present tense,” Watanabe shared over email. The printed dresses, shirts, and scarves, which appeared between more subdued staples like tailored blazers, billowing trousers, and samue-style shirts (with ties at the hip), were well-executed, lending the collection a soft romance.Watanabe had clearly been seeking connection this season. Including the partnership with Nishimura, the collection featured no fewer than four collaborations. The spiky shibori bags that models carried were created in partnership with Bunzaburo Shoten, a Kyoto brand founded in 1915. He also teamed up with Maison Eureka, a Berlin-based label headed up by Japanese designer Yurika Nakatsu on graphic T-shirts that feature folk art prints.Most convincing was a charitable union with Yamazaki Rokkougei, a Kyoto-based factory that makes ornaments such as vases, tea utensils and incense burners for Buddhist temples. “Yamazaki Rokkougei showcases incredible skills, but due to the pandemic, the number of jobs, especially at temples and shrines, has been drastically decreasing,” said Watanabe. “We decided to collaborate because we wanted to present their work to the world in the context of fashion.”The resulting metal cuffs, earrings, and necklaces were made by using an ancient wax casting method and they complemented the collection well. It was a clever way to breathe life into a dying art, and reappropriate it into a fashion collection. Appreciators of true Japanese artisanship can sleep easier knowing Watanabe is around to nurture it.
29 August 2023
Kohichi Watanabe has spent the past season exploring the catacombs of his own mind. Not in a navel gazing or therapeutic way, but by forgetting about the real world—doesn’t that sound inviting?—and instead interpreting the shapes and colors of autumn and winter as they exist in his mind’s eye.Taking the lead from impressionistukiyo-eartists from the Edo era, who made woodblock prints in the image of snow-capped mountains and ocean waves, the Kyoto-based designer plucked the tea-brown, navy, and muted beiges that made up the collection straight from his memories, punctuating them with a satisfying blaze of vermilion he said represented the shining sun. It all played out through a film presented digitally, with models traipsing through the bleakly beautiful grassy landscape of Miho in Shizuoka, a spot favored by those aforementioned impressionists for its spectacular views of Mt. Fuji.The brand is consistent—those kimono-esque obi belts and flashes of blood-red have become something of a signature for Rainmaker over recent seasons—but there’s enough magic in the details that it always feels fresh. As well asukiyo-e,karesansui(zen gardens) also provided an abstract touchpoint for Watanabe, which manifested in the quilted trench coats, printed with geometric shapes and stitched to create grooves reminiscent of pebbles raked to look like rippling pools of water.The quilts were stuffed with a pure silk padding that Watanabe chose for its insulating qualities, and served as a contemporary update on thehantenpadded jackets that the winter-hardy Japanese have been wearing for centuries. There’s a utilitarian vibe to Rainmaker that, though it feels secondary to the beauty of the clothing, will no doubt be appreciated by the person who shrugs on one of its quilted coats this winter, or firmly belts up a tailored jacket against the chill of the wind. That’s testament to Watanabe’s sensitive approach, and is why his clothes invariably have an air of emotional intelligence as well as superficial appeal.Watanabe’s true mastery, though, lies in his ability to incorporate traditional motifs from his heritage into modern, cool-feeling clothing. “Regardless of the season, I always keep in mind the fusion of Western and Japanese elements,” he shared over email. “You could say I do it intentionally, even if it’s unintentional, because as a Japanese designer it’s only natural for me to add Japanese elements.”
13 March 2023
The Rainmaker spring show opened with the electronic musician and composer Eiko Ishibashi standing in front of a piano inside Kyoto’s Kyocera Museum of Art wearing a navy tunic over a pair of back trousers. Soon after she began playing, the first model emerged from the stairs behind her, wearing a loose jacket and matching trousers in a rich gray tone that felt seconds away from letting its berry undertones overpower it. Underneath, a navy tunic buttoned only half-way down so that the model could put one hand in a right pocket, in the process exposing a leather belt looped onto itself, the excess belt left hanging. The model’s hair was center parted and a single earring dangled from the left ear.If it seems like that description is perhaps too detailed, it is only because that is the level of attention that Kohichi Watanabe infuses into his garments. The palette was made up primarily of shades of black and navy (a jacket with frog buttons that combined both shades was an absolute standout), as well as green, cream, and red, which layered upon each other to create a sense of depth within the garments that one cannot help but think also reflects the depth of the wearer.“Layering is inspired by classic Japanese outfits,” Watanabe shared via email. “The layering of different colors was used to express the natural scenery of spring and summer.” Expert layering is one of his signature techniques, rooted in the traditional way of wearing a kimono, though his approach is anything but historical. Consider the look that began with an indigo shirt — only the top button was visible — worn underneath a hooded white cotton trench coat, itself worn under a navy blazer with patch pockets, cinched at the waist with a leather belt. Or the way a cream polo and matching trousers were exalted by one printed jacket tied around the waist, with a red leather belt tied around on top of that, creating a modern take on a traditional obi belt.The printed fabrics were a collaboration with MILESTONES, itself a collaborative project between the centuries-old Hosoo textile mill (founded in 1688) and the Kyoto University of the Arts, which has been archiving and analyzing over 20,000 kimono and obi designs. Watanabe visited a MILESTONES exhibition and “fell in love at first sight” with the print of a peacock which he remixed. “It had a novel and serene appearance,” Watanabe added. “It was perfect for this season’s image.
” A more unexpected collaboration came in the form of a Wrangler “cowboy jacket.” It is based on the label’s “11MJZ” jacket which the designer described as “a masterpiece of clothing.”Watanabe makes clothes for men and women but on the runway the distinction seems completely irrelevant. Here were people wearing incredibly beautiful clothes, walking with poise, carrying themselves with unparalleled ease, hands tucked just-so into a hidden pocket; a half jacket layered here, a tunic vest layered over matching shirt and trousers there — the fabrics gently flowing around their body as they walked around the Kyocera museum. They evoked a sense of utopia. Even through the computer screen, the way the currant-red trench coat that closed the show gently glided behind the model was enough to take one’s breath away.
30 August 2022
Tokyo’s fashion capital status is well-deserved but the metropolis isn’t Japan’s sole cultural hub. Three hundred and sixty-five kilometers away in Kyoto, Rainmaker’s Kohichi Watanabe and Ryutaro Kishi create inspiring clothes. Their understated pieces feature ingenious details like removable collars in coats with adjustable padding, but their visual appeal outweighs the practical nature of their designs. No one thinks about a trek through the cold when looking at Watanabe and Kishi’s work, even if this season’s campaign film features models doing precisely that. Once you glimpse those gold-flecked wide-leg trousers or the special ‘Balmacaan’ coat in Nishijin-ori Hosoo fabric, a material whose history dates back 300 years, your focus doesn’t waver.The pair’s fall collection was a tribute to Maizuri, a seaside city within the prefecture, famous for the architecture of red brick buildings built during the Meiji and Taisho eras. The park where many of these stand has become a scenic destination for tourists, and it served as the backdrop for the film directed by Taro Mizutani. The historic setting made the clothes seem especially modern; though Rainmaker specializes in classics like kimono coats, cardigans, and trenches, they interpret them idiosyncratically. This season that meant piling on the layers to create dramatic shapes that could withstand the cold and keeping the color scheme interesting with striking combinations like lavender and navy and olive and ash gray.Rip knitting, a traditional technique that breaks old fabrics down into threads which are then repurposed, added visual interest and sustainability. At the same time, ultra-luxe materials like cashmere were processed to be even softer than usual. All the attention to detail made for a collection where even the most straightforward pieces were worthy of a second look.
11 April 2022
Rainmaker’s Kohichi Watanabe and Ryutaro Kishi are entering their blue period. Their spring 2022 collection, presented in a film shot at Kyoto’s famous International Conference Center, spans a spectrum of azure, cerulean, turquoise, and cyan. Despite their penchant for minimalism and clean lines, this isn’t the optic color blocking of the late aughts that has returned elsewhere; Watanabe and Kishi approach their palette with sensitivity and a bit of sprezzatura.Western shirts in Prussian blue are half-tucked into pleated slate trousers, long patterned tunics peek out from underneath V-neck sweaters, and patterned anoraks are buttoned just at the collar over clean navy suits. The pair design simply—no excess or irony is ever present in their work—but style their collections quite gesturally.It’s easy to picture Japan’s coolest dressers picking up some of the styling of this collection—and its best pieces too. The sartorial trousers, thick knits, sporty windbreakers, and leather shorts have a worldliness about them, even if the collection is firmly rooted in the brand’s Kyoto history and only available through a small network of Japanese retailers and wholly owned stores. Reporting from afar, one hopes that Rainmaker’s imprint will grow; the brand could find success on the backs of smart dressers the world over.
30 August 2021
Minimalism is universal, but Japan takes the concept in new directions. Case in point: the latest collection from Kyoto-based label, Rainmaker, whose spartan take on the season didn’t lack for visual interest. Designers Kohichi Watanabe and Ryutaro Kishi kept their lines clean and their color palette restrained, stripping things down further than usual. This time last year, they mixed in checkerboard prints and plaids; no such flourishes were found amid this lineup. Still, for every pattern the pair subtracted, they added a new fabrication or texture, most noticeably a series of plush pieces that encased the body in goose-down puffers. On some looks, the element added a protective vibe. On others, it felt aeronautical; the cloudlike volume of a cocoon-shaped jacket threatened to lift its wearer aloft.Some pieces soared, but Rainmaker was a grounded affair. Workwear took priority, with a wealth of belted blazers and casual Friday cardigans filling the runway. Suits for men and women were smartly cut and spiced up with additions like chunky hand-knit turtlenecks that felt slightly undone or white shirt hems that peeked out from beneath jackets to create the illusion of ease. Effortlessness is hard to fake, but for the most part, Watanabe and Kishi managed to infuse their creations with a lightness and simplicity that lends itself to creating easy outfits daily. The pristine styling was beautiful, but these pieces will come alive once they’re pulled out of a wardrobe and worn with genuine nonchalance.
29 March 2021
There’s a reason menswear buyers flock to Tokyo Fashion Week. Designers here excel at reinterpreting the standards of the masculine wardrobe in ways that are thoughtful and elegant. Though their label is based in Kyoto, Kohichi Watanabe and Ryutaro Kishi of Rainmaker represent this ideal admirably. Their refined versions of staples like belted trenches, blazers, and cuffed trousers are traditional without feeling stodgy. While they offer an array of appealing options for women, their men’s pieces are the main attraction. Spring found the pair embracing print via a painterly tie-dye brushstroke and metallic jacquard on suiting and outerwear—both subtler than they sound on paper.Understatedis the keyword when it comes to Watanabe and Kishi’s creations. Recipients of this year’s Tokyo Fashion Award, their clothes are luxurious without being ostentatious. Fashion historians will notice some similarities to the Tomas Maier days of Bottega Veneta, but the style isn’t derivative. Pieces like robe-like blouses for men and women and glossy leather shorts felt fresh. On the whole, you’ll notice the wearer before you take in the individual elements that define their look. Great clothes enhance the person; they don’t just tick a box on a trend. Watanabe and Kishi highlighted that fact via a cast of models who seemed more like urban professionals than runway regulars. Bearded and bespectacled in soft tailoring or sporting bowl cuts while wearing artfully disheveled layers, they projected cool.
17 October 2019