After last season’s farewell from Junichi Abe, it was Taro Horiuchi’s turn to unveil his take on Kolor. Another day of shows, another debut.
The Tokyo-born designer earned his master’s degree in 2007 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He has a robust résumé of experience in the industry—most notably at the helm of two labels, a namesake project and a menswear brand, TH Products.
Abe made Kolor, which he founded in 2004, one of Japan’s most well-known and regarded fashion exports. His idiosyncratic take on garment hybridization, together with Chitose Abe’s at Sacai, has become an emblem for Japanese fashion. Taking on such a mantle is no easy task, but Horiuchi managed it with aplomb.
“Time travel. Chic humor,” offered the designer’s show notes. Horiuchi’s collection certainly had a more youthful undertone than Abe’s most recent propositions. It was this sense of humor that marked a before and after at Kolor. What made it effective is that Horiuchi preserved the precision and technical finesse that is a signature of the brand, but imbued it with a sense of play. See the way he inserted tactical pockets into a silk cami blouse or how he lined silver shorts with acid green fabric. The shoulder seams in tailored jackets were left open to release the jacket’s lining, and he even offered an inflatable circle skirt that outlined what Kolor eveningwear could look like.
The true verdict about this debut will come from the customers, but by loosening up the formality of Kolor with more relaxed proportions and a touch of irreverence, Horiuchi may have achieved the feat of opening up this 20-year-old label to an even broader audience.
