“Keep the 16th of March free, and don’t cut your hair. You’ll be walking in my show.” Those were the brief instructions Soshi Otsuki’s father received from his son a few months ago.
Otsuki is a man of few words, but he always mentions his father—a former karate sensei and ninja expert—when speaking about the inspiration behind his collections. His father suffered a stroke while Soshi was working on this collection, which shifted the designer’s worldview. It caused him to consider the fundamental and intangible dignity with which the Japanese approach life and death, and it was this that became the soul of his collection, which he titled Good Memory.
His fall show was a slow-burner. Starting with meditative instrumental music, the sound gradually built in intensity, eventually crescendoing into thumping taiko drums and fast techno, as his army of models (and his dad) marched the runway dressed in billowing kimono coats, Yakuza-worthy suits, and huge down jackets with ninja-like face coverings. The masks were inspired by Issei Suda’s photographs of a traditional dance festival in Akita prefecture. “The photos were very sophisticated and cool, and I wanted to see if I could make something fashionable out of it,” the designer said at a showroom preview. Otsuki also referenced Yamabushi monks, which he’d learned about from a book of his father’s that the designer read when he was in high school. “My dad often took me to shrines in Nagano where the Yamabushi monks practiced,” he said.
Otsuki’s talent lies in his ability to take the touchstones of his heritage—salaryman suits, judo belts, kimono sleeves, prayer beads—and create well-executed, contemporary clothes that would look as convincingly cool in London and New York as they do in Tokyo. His silhouettes are adventurous yet wearable, while his tailoring somehow feels both traditionally masculine and totally of the moment.
Otsuki styled the show himself, and put his father in a classic black suit and tie: when he came out onto the runway, he was the picture of cool. “I don’t know much about fashion,” his dad had said backstage before the show. “But I think [Soshi] has his own strong concept, and he’s doing it well.” Indeed he is.
