The Tamesis
If Harunobu Murata wasn’t a fashion designer, he would be an excellent architect.
The Jil Sander alum has been thinking this season about Adolf Loos’s “Ornament and Crime,” a modernist manifesto that argued that decoration should be eliminated from useful objects in the interest of cultural development. Murata’s approach isn’t quite as heavy-handed, but he’s a minimalist and his inspiration brings restraint to the series. Unlike the usual fashion shows, it was presented in a showroom for the first time, giving us the chance to take our time and appreciate each piece up close.
Murata holds the floor like a lecturer and describes the collection as an urban landscape. The resulting vertical silhouette is both structured and fluid: the coat has a high collar that stands upright like a skyscraper, but then merges into the fabric pleats of the belt at the waist. Murata is particularly good at sporty designs—alpaca coats are gorgeous enough on a hanger but come alive on the fitted models that circle the showroom. It’s elegant design: “The drape does move with you, but in a more stoic, considered way,” he says.
The brand’s significant upgrades in craftsmanship and sophisticated exploration of textures and colors contribute to the evolution of draped tailoring. Part of that is reflected in an expanded knitwear collection, which includes ribbed knits with ombre dyes inspired by patterns he found in the wood grain of nearby buildings, and denim that’s been bleached to look like weathered concrete. A bias-cut satin dress is broken up by diagonal torso panels, adding extra light and texture.
Murata’s designs have already attracted affluent women in Tokyo society (the brand opened its first store there last year), and he is now looking to expand into European and American markets. “We’re currently in the preparation phase, getting ready to jump,” he said. This series is dynamic and will give him the push he needs.
